Russia Says It Holds About 10% of Global Rare-Earth Reserves

Russia highlights its rare-earth resource base

Russia holds approximately 10% of the world’s rare-earth metal reserves, Rosneft chief Igor Sechin said at the Eastern Economic Forum, according to Pronedra. The estimate presents the country as a potentially significant source of minerals used in electronics, permanent magnets, electric vehicles, wind turbines, precision equipment, aviation and defense systems.

The claim concerns reserves rather than current output or commercially available refined material. Pronedra did not provide a tonnage estimate, a breakdown by deposit or individual element, or a timetable for bringing new mines into production. Those omissions matter because rare-earth deposits vary widely in grade, mineralogy, accessibility and the cost of separating their constituent elements.

Processing, not geology, remains the bottleneck

Sechin said control over processing is now as important as possession of raw materials. According to figures cited by Pronedra, about 90% of global rare-earth processing capacity is concentrated in China. The publication also cited US Geological Survey estimates showing that China supplies more than 70% of global mined output and about 87% of processing.

The two processing figures are not identical, but both point to an exceptionally concentrated market. China’s position is particularly strong in heavy rare-earth elements, including dysprosium and terbium, which are critical inputs for modern high-performance magnets. This means a new mine outside China does not automatically create an independent supply chain: its concentrate must still be separated, purified and converted into specifications accepted by industrial customers.

Rare-earth separation is the decisive intermediate stage. Mined material contains a mixture of chemically similar elements that must be converted into individual compounds before manufacturers can use them. Developing this capability requires industrial technology, suitable facilities and reliable demand for multiple products emerging from the same ore.

Russia seeks a domestic production chain

The Russian government classifies rare-earth metals as strategic mineral resources and has emphasized both oversight of reserves and development of the domestic resource base, Pronedra reported. State strategy documents also call for deeper mineral processing and reduced dependence on imported technologies and materials.

A central objective is to establish domestic separation facilities. Russian strategic documents identify industrial-scale rare-earth separation technology as necessary to replace Chinese imports and create a closed production chain inside the country. If implemented, that policy would need to connect geological resources with mining, chemical separation and downstream manufacturing rather than treating reserve size as the sole measure of supply potential.

For producers and investors, the 10% estimate indicates geological optionality but not yet equivalent market capacity. Future projects will have to demonstrate recoverable grades, processing routes, capital requirements and customers for separated products. For importers and manufacturers seeking diversified supply, Russia’s resource base could become relevant only if it supports consistent commercial output beyond the mine gate. Until then, China’s dominance in both extraction and especially processing remains the defining feature of the global rare-earth market.