Experts Assess Potential for Russia-China Cooperation in Rare Earth Production

Global production of rare earth elements (REEs) — a group comprising 15 lanthanides, yttrium and scandium — increased 3.5-fold between 2014 and 2024 to 390,000 tonnes, according to a review by Eurasia Development. The market remains highly concentrated, with China continuing to dominate global REE production. However, its share of global output has declined by almost 20 percentage points over the past decade.

Russia possesses a significant REE resource base. Attracting Chinese companies to Russian projects as technology and financial partners could help the country develop REE production and exports, according to Eurasia Development experts.

The potential impact of Russia-China cooperation on the global REE market is examined in an article by Vedomosti. Industry and Infrastructure.

The Undisputed Leader
Global REE resources are estimated at approximately 303 million tonnes of rare earth oxides, according to the Eurasia Development review. However, economically recoverable reserves amount to only around 91 million tonnes, of which 44 million tonnes, or 48% of global reserves, are located in China.

Apart from China, only Brazil has a comparable reserve base, with 21 million tonnes, representing 23% of global reserves. India, Australia, Vietnam and the United States together account for another 18 million tonnes, or 20%.

Russia ranks among the world’s five largest countries by REE reserves, with 3.8 million tonnes, or 4.2%, according to the review. At the same time, Rosgeolfond data as of January 1, 2024 indicate a substantially higher figure for Russia’s balance reserves — 28.5 million tonnes.

Almost half of Russia’s REE reserves are concentrated in the Murmansk Region, while 25% are located at the Lovozero deposit, whose ores are used to produce loparite concentrate. It remains the country’s only industrial source of REE production.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, global REE production increased by 4% year-on-year in 2024 to 390,000 tonnes. China remained the undisputed leader, producing 270,000 tonnes, or 69% of global output. The United States ranked second with 45,000 tonnes, or 11.5%, followed by Myanmar with 31,000 tonnes, or 8%.

In 2014, China accounted for 85% of global REE production, according to Eurasia Development. Despite an almost threefold increase in Chinese output between 2014 and 2024, the country’s market share declined as production expanded in the United States, Australia, Myanmar and several other countries.

According to Eurasia Development, this indicates a gradual diversification of supply sources, although the market remains highly concentrated.

Russia ranked eighth globally in REE production in 2024, producing 2,500 tonnes, or 0.6% of global output, according to the company. These figures are consistent with U.S. Geological Survey statistics.

Rosgeolfond data as of January 1, 2024 show that only 16% of Russia’s REE reserves, or 4.1 million tonnes, have been brought into development, while only around 2%, or 0.5 million tonnes, are being developed specifically for REE extraction. Data as of January 1, 2025 have not yet been published.

REE production in Russia is complicated by the composition of the ores. They are predominantly complex ores with low REE concentrations and are often radioactive. Their processing therefore requires sophisticated combinations of beneficiation, pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical technologies, according to the Eurasia Development review.

Eurasia Development believes that combining Russian resources with Chinese technologies could support the development of Russia’s REE industry while helping China diversify its raw material base.

For Russia, such cooperation could reduce import dependence, provide access to full-cycle production technologies, and secure supplies of REEs and REE-based products for the defense industry, energy sector, electronics and automotive industry.

China, in turn, would gain access to major REE resources in a friendly jurisdiction, create opportunities to supply equipment, technologies and engineering services to the Russian market, and relocate some of the most resource-intensive stages of the production chain to Russia.

Russia’s and China’s InterestsExperts interviewed by Vedomosti. Industry and Infrastructure identified several potential areas for Russia-China cooperation in the REE market.

China’s primary interest lies in gaining access to Russian REE reserves, says Bulat Masnaviyev, Senior Consultant at Implementa. Global demand for REEs continues to grow steadily and could increase by 50% to 550,000 tonnes by 2030, he notes. Additional resources will be required to meet this demand.

According to Igor Petrov, Doctor of Technical Sciences and CEO of the Infomine Research Group, the potential for Russia-China cooperation in REEs is limited.

“Russia could play a role similar to Myanmar, supplying China with scarce heavy rare earths of the yttrium group — yttrium, gadolinium, terbium and others,” he says.

Petrov notes that Myanmar, like the United States, primarily produces early-stage processed products such as metal concentrates, which are then shipped to China for further processing.
Russia has reserves of yttrium-group metals at the Tomtor deposit in Yakutia and the Katugin deposit in Transbaikalia, Petrov says. Tomtor also contains niobium reserves, while Katugin contains niobium, tantalum, zirconium and uranium. Both deposits have relatively accessible areas suitable for open-pit REE mining, he adds.

Cooperation with China could provide Russia with access to technologies for REE extraction, beneficiation and separation, experts say.

Masnaviyev notes that Beijing significantly tightened controls over exports of REE processing technologies in October 2025. However, in November, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced that these measures would be suspended for one year, until November 10, 2026.

Russia already supplies REE concentrates to China for oxide separation, but China has so far shown little willingness to share its technologies, says Maxim Shaposhnikov, Adviser to the Managing Partner of Industrial Code Fund.

He also considers the potential for bilateral cooperation in this market to be limited: Moscow could obtain REE oxides for domestic consumption and export, while Beijing could expand its resource base.

Masnaviyev points out that developing proprietary technologies for separating REE oxides and manufacturing finished products requires substantial time and investment. Close cooperation with Chinese companies could significantly accelerate this process, he believes.

At the same time, he stresses that Russia should seek a genuine partnership with China rather than becoming merely a raw material supplier.

Potential Projects
Andrey Smirnov, stock market expert at BCS World of Investments, believes Russia and China could jointly develop the Tomtor deposit.

In November 2024, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the deposit as a strategically important resource currently needed by the state and instructed officials to accelerate its development.

Masnaviyev agrees that active development of Russia’s REE sector should begin with Tomtor. He also sees prospects for joint development of the Zashikhinskoye deposit in the Irkutsk Region and the Yaregskoye deposit in the Komi Republic.

In the longer term, it may be possible to establish a cluster encompassing the full value chain for finished REE products, the expert notes.

According to Petrov, the most promising potential joint Russia-China REE project is the development of the Katugin deposit.

Russia-China cooperation in the REE market could enable a “reconfiguration of the global supply structure,” Smirnov believes. In an ideal scenario for Russia, this could eventually lead to the formation of a form of “cartel alliance” with China, he says.