Russia Resumes Beryllium Mining: Strategic Metal for Future Technologies

27 2025 June 17 293 21

This year, Russia is launching a project to restore beryllium mining at the Ermakovskoye deposit in Buryatia. This event could be a turning point for the domestic industry, especially in the high-tech sector. of technologies and defense. Beryllium is a rare and highly sought-after metal used in aircraft construction, rocket engineering, electronics and nuclear power engineering. Due to its lightness, strength and heat resistance, it is indispensable in the creation of alloys, and is also used as a moderator and neutron reflector in reactors.

The world leaders in the extraction of the above-mentioned mineral remain the United States and China, while our country, despite significant reserves, has not developed its own deposits since the late 1980s.

In turn, the Ermakovskoye deposit is one of the richest in the world, with a beryllium content of more than 1%. In Soviet times, ore from here was sent to the Zabaikalsky Mining and Processing Plant, but in 1989, mining was curtailed. The reason was political changes: course towards disarmament and pressure public movements led to the halt of strategic projects.

After the collapse of the USSR, another problem arose – the loss of a key enterprise for processing this valuable metal. The Ulba Metallurgical Plant, located in Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan), remained abroad, and with it – the reserves of enriched uranium and beryllium.

In 1994, the US secretly removed 600 kg of uranium from the plant as part of Operation Sapphire, offering Kazakhstan technology and investment in exchange. Russia, which was in crisis, was unable to prevent this.

Meanwhile, today our country is once again taking on the creation of a full cycle of beryllium production – from mining to processing. Scientists are developing new, safer technologies, since working with this metal is associated with high toxicity.

It is planned not only to resume mining in Buryatia, but also to develop the Mariinsky mine in the Urals. Construction of a plant will begin this year, which in a few years will provide the country with its own beryllium.

One of the reasons for the increased interest in this metal may be the development of nuclear technologies. At the end of April, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the acceleration of the creation of a liquid-salt reactor – a promising installation for processing radioactive waste. Such a reactor is planned to use lithium and beryllium fluorides, which will require significant volumes of the latter.

The revival of this industry is part of a large-scale strategy to transition to a new technological order. In the conditions of global competition, Moscow is betting on its own resources, reducing dependence on imports of critical materials. The success of this project will open up new opportunities not only for the defense sector, but also for the nuclear energy of the future.

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yuri bakster

+1

27 June 2025 12: 01

wow, it turns out that the communists were not freaks in high technology... but they were in another, having taught half the world to live for free at our expense, which is sad, the freebies still continue for many "brothers"
frightening voices in the willow branches

+4

27 June 2025 12: 28

And I won't be embarrassed to ask - WHO specifically will develop this most valuable resource, if even gold and rare earth metal mining in Russia is recognized by officials as "unprofitable and highly risky" for the State?
The most that the wise servants of the State will condescend to is to build a power line and roads to the deposit in a “partnership” at the State’s expense, and then simply hand it all over to businessmen - for some reason everything turns out profitably for them, unlike the officials.
1. svoroponov
  
  +2
  
  27 June 2025 19: 25
  
  Here in Russia beryllium is mined, but not in large quantities, for the defense industry. Here it is simply said about the extraction or, more precisely, the separation of this material from radioactive waste using a cheaper technology developed by our scientists. Obviously, it was necessary to increase its quantity for the needs of our industry and for sales on foreign markets. It is very expensive and it makes sense to produce and sell it, given our capabilities in the nuclear industry, to replenish the budget.
  1. frightening voices in the willow branches
    
    0
    
    28 June 2025 12: 46
    
    Dear you, our all-knowing, conscious citizen! Do you read the news channels attentively? Haven't you come across endless reports about "here is another grandiose, unparalleled project for the development of already explored and proven reserves of the most obscenely sought-after metal (further down the list of raw materials) placed on the table of the GDP!
    The State (represented by hired irreplaceable ministers and advisers) believes that due to HIGH RISKS and organizational difficulties, the State will invest in partnership in the construction of infrastructure for development (as always at the expense of various State funds and extra-budgetary piggy banks), and the extraction there and "organizational risks" for the entire process up to the sale of rare earths or precious metals will be given over to the mercy of the BUSINESSMAN (especially close and not afraid of risks and difficulties). And we see how the most incredible next deposit simply disappears from the agenda. It is already being developed with State money but in private interests. This is the same trick as the construction of new roads in partnership, when roads are built and repaired at the STATE EXPENSE, but commercial use goes to the "partners".
    And yes, beryllium was mined in the USSR in decent quantities - they knew why it was needed and consumed it in the corresponding quantities. A side effect of the mining is still the only mine in the Russian Federation for the extraction of jewelry emeralds, which, by the way, for some reason did not interest any of the officials for a long time. My father worked at the Bochvar Research Institute. Even I know something about metals and alloys. It is the "new" Russia that is not interested in metals. And therefore, even obtaining special steels and alloys for the defense industry is extremely difficult. Hence the story of the quality of everything produced in the Russian Federation. You can't mold a bullet out of guano...
svoroponov

-2

28 June 2025 17: 10

I read news portals very carefully. It's one thing if the deposits are ordinary and another if they are rare earths. Ask your father if he knows who deals with rare earths, how they are accounted for and where they go first, and sometimes only there. I can surprise you, there is almost no smell of private traders there. Something else is possible, but rare earth materials (according to a special list, specifically as rare earths) almost all go to the state and then, according to various agreements, and then further.
Now regarding the development of various deposits. I can say that geological exploration is carried out not only with government money, but also private individuals have been giving money for some time now. In addition, sometimes the government is not interested in what a deposit contains, or the government has a lot of it or has large reserves for itself, but a private individual needs it and is ready to develop it himself. "A dog in the manger" or "Not for myself, not for the people". Are you suggesting that the government do this? Let them lie in the ground for another 1000 years? Or, having allowed development and stipulated this in the contract, receive money, or even what is mined at the deposit, in the shares needed by the government? In the West, this is overwhelmingly done by private firms. By the way, government agencies are often engaged in geological exploration there, but with the subsequent transfer of the explored material for development to private individuals. This is so that the state knows what exactly is in the land and can estimate how much it can get from this for the budget and who will do this based on what has been explored. Do you have anything against this?
You are obviously a humanities student and live on information from the Internet, but you have never been a real owner of an enterprise in the real sector. Otherwise, you would reason differently.
1. Gloomy_Os
  
  +1
  
  28 June 2025 19: 05
  
  Excellent. Another "state-level theorist". It evokes not just a smile but wild laughter when they say that the explored deposit of rare earths "is not interesting to the state because the state has a lot of them".
  Well, if to get down to the essence - the state simply lacks competent resources (both management and human). I know firsthand how the head of one of the state enterprises spent almost two years looking for a normal, competent mine surveyor and eventually "bought" him from another enterprise (by the way, a commercial one). But this is a saying. Ask any economist (with a Soviet education) and he will explain to you on his fingers that the extraction of this raw material, firstly, is never unprofitable, and secondly, is never "unnecessary" for the state. All resources (even with a high level of costs) pay off. But thinking for 5-10 years - welcome to the West. If a businessman has explored himself, calculated the reserves himself, developed the deposit himself - then good riddance to him. But! Now they use geological exploration data from the times of the USSR, and new parties - you can count on your fingers. So what we have here is elementary robbery and extortion in favor of ... someone. As they say, "for a small share."
  1. svoroponov
    
    0
    
    30 June 2025 16: 41
    
    .......Wonderful. Another "state-level theorist". It evokes not just a smile but wild laughter when they say that the explored deposit of rare earths "is not interesting to the state because the state has a lot of them"..........
    
    In more detail about the explored deposits of rare earths, of which the state has many, in my notes. I led the case of mineral deposits and the interaction in this field of the state and private individuals. Well, about rare earths. They are in the processing of raw materials and also in the waste of the nuclear industry, but they are distributed in small quantities and it is difficult to extract them from there, very gigantic costs are needed and there may not be any technology. Having them, you will not be able to extract or divide. Will you give it to a private individual? And who will undertake this, I wonder, if the buyer has not been determined or where to use it all or sell it? That's right - the state, and the private individual will already be sold the product, and only if the price suits him. At "horse" prices, sometimes what is urgently needed, they may not even buy.
    And also, many often mistake rare earth materials for those that are not considered as such. Rare earth metals (REM) are a group of 17 chemical elements, including scandium, yttrium and 15 lanthanides (lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, lutetium). They are not so rare in the earth's crust, but they are difficult to extract due to their dispersed distribution in nature.
    You can continue your wild laughter. It's just that in the USSR there was a geological exploration program throughout the entire territory of the USSR. They explored a lot of things, but then the extraction was largely unprofitable in a number of places. There was no necessary infrastructure, logistics, these materials were not needed, at high costs, in such quantities and even in the future, with those technologies, their use was not foreseeable.
    So if a private business wants to extract something, who's stopping it? You can conduct geological exploration yourself, or you can use those deposits that are open, or areas with potential for deposits. But for geological exploration, you yourself, as a private individual, will have to spend money with the risk of losing it. Therefore, if you have noticed carefully, the state is mainly engaged in geological exploration, or, yes, you can do it yourself, but with funding and under the control of the state. Just look at how private companies do it in the West during geological exploration in their own or other foreign countries.
    In general, when you read what they write, don’t try to write something just to be against it, if what is written there doesn’t correspond to your expectations.
2. Vladimir Tuzakov
  
  +2
  
  28 June 2025 19: 59
  
  When the private and public sector cooperate in a common cause, whereas in the fable, the tops of the wheat go to private businessmen, the roots of the wheat go to the state... The two forms of ownership are incompatible in common enterprises, private property will always receive a larger share of the profits, but the public sector, on the contrary, will receive the expenses. Practice proves it completely. You can't change the laws of nature. Jokingly about the essence: "all the animals rake in for themselves, the hens rake in for themselves", exceptions only confirm the rule.
  1. svoroponov
    
    -1
    
    28 June 2025 20: 32
    
    Look at the West, where both the public and private sectors and capital cooperate. You have to cooperate wisely.
    Well, and take into account what happened to the country in the 90s and who and how plundered it the most. And this cannot be changed by the wave of a magic wand. The industrial and economic complex of a powerful country has collapsed. A lot of things were left outside of Russia and they have to be restored or even built anew. Just imagine the scale. And the labor force cannot be trained quickly, many specialists remained outside the country. And how many fled the country taking a lot of things with them. I can safely say that the rapid development of computer technology in the West is very much based on what certain individuals stole from us. Yes, entire ships were sent from the Baltics filled with our know-how. All our new products were swept out of warehouses and developments from safes. One deputy director then took out all the developments in the computer field of an entire research institute. After which the Intel company, having hired him, made a rapid leap in development and became the leader in its own country and in the world at that time. You simply cannot imagine the scale to which the then brethren, leaving the USSR, dragged all our developments there. So there is no point in scolding our management. It is just that in order to restore everything, time is needed, to train personnel, to develop competencies or restore them. Yes, a lot of things. And this is tens of years, taking into account our not very friendly environment and capabilities. I can say that if you were appointed to these positions, you would not have succeeded faster and maybe you would have completely screwed everything up. Just imagine yourself in the place of these people and the issues that you would have to solve.
    And I advise everyone to try this and give themselves an honest answer: would you be able to handle solving similar problems in this position?
    1. Vladimir Tuzakov
      
      +1
      
      28 June 2025 20: 46
      
      There is no need to exaggerate the technical losses of the USSR, yes there were some, but the USSR lost more in material reserves. Secondly, do you believe in these fairy tales, "Look at the West, where both the state and private sectors cooperate, and capital, especially in the USA", there are so many billions "going" from the state to private individuals that our thieves are licking their lips. An ordinary bolt in military equipment costs $10 for the USA. The USA can print dollars and raise the state debt by trillions of dollars, but a considerable part of them is stolen by private companies "in cahoots with the state sector"? You should "wipe your glasses" and get to know the topic better.
      1. svoroponov
        
        -1
        
        28 June 2025 21: 50
        
        The problem is not that they stole. But that in almost all countries everything is given over to business. But there is a public sector and a private sector. And both cooperate. And it is the same with us. Well, and technical losses are still being paid. Well, and material, how could we do without them. And often both technical and material were one and the same in certain industries. So I don’t need to wipe my glasses. I saw it all with my own eyes, and I had to experience some of it myself. I was then in the prime of life and all this pretty much ruined my fate and prospects. I had to prove my abilities all over again and stake out, based on them, a place in the sun already under a completely different system, in a very bad environment of local tribes outside my homeland, Russia.
3. frightening voices in the willow branches
  
  -1
  
  29 June 2025 16: 43
  
  I read news portals very carefully. It's one thing if the deposits are ordinary and another if they are rare earths. Ask your father,..
  
  I'll skip the obvious, but from the obvious I'll say the following My father was killed, the price is a case of vodka... at the institute, when they forced us to make an order for France, taking away all the radiation counters and turning off the shop floor ones.... The order was fulfilled. Everyone who worked for this in 3 shifts for several months without a break was treated to a boorish banquet - they got drunk to death on 3 toffees in the same shop floor...
  After that, forced layoffs began among highly qualified specialists. At first it was somehow unclear, but when cancer began to be detected en masse among those working, everything fell into place... As a result, my father died in my arms from cancer, and ZAO "RF" with...di lo (I can't find another synonym) the State has a lot of money on a commercial order.
  It is from this simple arithmetic of the prices of everything in the Russian Federation that I proceed, and not from your nonsense about what and why I have something against.
  And if something rots in the lands for 100 or 100 years, it is not yours, not mine, not the State's anymore... They simply take the money to extract all this from the budget - from my and your pockets for the benefit of those most in need...
Colonel Kudasov

-1

28 June 2025 18: 42

The USSR was developing a beryllium submarine project as the next step after titanium ones. The amount of beryllium required would have been considerable, I suppose.
1. svoroponov
  
  -2
  
  28 June 2025 22: 03
  
  You can't make almost anything from pure beryllium, with rare exceptions. It is a metal as an additive or additive that improves the properties of certain alloys, and derivatives with beryllium are also used. In the USSR, it was also mined little, there is little of it in the earth's crust. At that time, its properties were not yet very necessary and there was nothing to mine or isolate in large quantities. It was mainly used in instrumentation in alloys. It is currently, over the past 20-30 years, that the demand for it has grown significantly, as has the scope of its application.
  1. frightening voices in the willow branches
    
    -1
    
    29 June 2025 16: 47
    
    It's hard to even read this nonsense - they wrote about the properties of beryllium even in the schoolboy magazine "Young Technician" back in the distant 60s. I had a file from the middle of the century, I read it as a child. Well, this is for those who lived and live not by faith, but by knowledge, you live by faith
Sergey Latyshev

-1

28 June 2025 22: 26

Galoshes from the USSR, they are like this...
but for now there are only victories around:

This year Russia is launching a project...

i.e. not extraction, not processing, but only "starting a project" of what the USSR was already doing 40 years ago.....
etc.: "may become, assigned, is being taken up again, is planned, construction will begin, is being developed, etc."
Damn, for such a "business project" in a normal company they would have fired you...
1. The comment was deleted.
Sergey Latyshev

-2

29 June 2025 09: 59

in the title - present tense. "resumes production". That is, it is already sort of producing...
in the text - "This year Russia is starting a project to restore production" - a hint at the future, and not at production, but at the "project". That is, production and processing will happen someday. But for now, it's "design". Which is logical.
and from the video "it was announced that mining will start soon", "construction will begin next year" - i.e. definitely the future....
1. isofat
  
  -1
  
  29 June 2025 13: 21
  
  Quote: Sergey Latyshev
  ...a hint at the future tense
  
  Comrade hints they don't roll.
Valera75

0

29 June 2025 10: 18

Let's say they resume mining in Buryatia, but what about that?

During Soviet times, ore from here was sent to the Zabaikalsky Mining and Processing Plant, but in 1989, mining was stopped.

и

After the collapse of the USSR, another problem arose – the loss of a key enterprise for processing this valuable metal. The Ulba Metallurgical Plant, located in Ust-Kamenogorsk (Kazakhstan), remained abroad, and with it – the reserves of enriched uranium and beryllium.
prior

0

29 June 2025 10: 40

This event may become rotary for domestic industry

Let's say they mine a couple of kilograms of this same beryllium, and then where will the domestic industry go? will turn?! At least hint where.
And then, after its “turns” in aircraft manufacturing, automobile manufacturing and many other industries, my hair stands on end.
anclevalico

0

4 July 2025 09: 12

As I understand it, very distant future technologies. All our technologies now are recycling fees and housing and communal services tariffs.