The REM-Energy Transition Interrelation in the Context of Full-Cycle Projects

Abstract—This article deals with the development of the rare-earth industry in Russia. It is noted that Russia, having a significant resource base of this type of mineral raw materials, does not fully use the existing potential. Russia exports low-processed semiproducts, and imports goods containing rare earth elements with high added value. The key problem of the industry is the insignificant domestic demand for rare-earth metals. The growing interest in the world in renewable energy sources creates new opportunities for the development of the Russian rare-earth industry and makes transition of the Russian economy to a new technological order possible. At the heart of the policy to create demand for rare-earth products within the country, the authors propose using an approach based on the consideration of full-cycle projects. The approach is characterized by three main features. First, the approach is an extension of the traditional project approach and takes into account not so much the local aspects of an individual project for the extraction and processing of ore, but its integration into the country’s economy through a system of interindustry interactions (multiplier effects). Second, as the demand for products within the country grows and the use of products based on rare-earth metals expands, the process of “learning” is launched, and the costs of mining, processing, and production of final products are reduced. Third, the approach suggests considering rare-earth ores in dumps as pseudofinancial assets with the ability to manage them as traditional economic assets.