Polar Lithium, a joint venture between Russian miner Nornickel and nuclear state company Rosatom’s mining division, has been awarded the exclusive right to develop the Kolmozerskoye lithium deposit, the largest in Russia.

The project, located in the country’s northwest Murmansk Region, will produce 45,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate and hydroxide per year, Kallanish notes.

The partners plan to establish an integrated production facility that spans mining and processing to high-tech products, creating over 1,000 new jobs and reducing Russia’s dependence on imported lithium and battery components.

The auction for the Kolmozerskoye exploration and mining license was conducted by Russia’s Federal Agency for Subsoil Resources Management, with a starting bid of RUB 1.56 billion ($21.4 million) and a 20-year subsoil use period.

Kolmozerskoye, discovered in 1947, is Russia’s most promising lithium deposit and includes minerals such as lithium, beryllium, niobium, and tantalum. Norilsk Technical Services and Rusburmash, Rosatom’s exploration and drilling company, will begin additional exploration in the coming months.

The design and exploration phases are expected to be completed in a few years, with the project’s design capacity to be reached by 2030.

“The Kolmozerskoye project is perfectly timed to meet the growing demand for lithium in electric vehicles and energy storage industries,” says Nornickel’s senior vice president Sergey Stepanov. “With lithium projects announced in other countries, we need to move fast. The partnership with Rosatom provides us with a huge set of competencies and a complete integration into the battery business.”

“The development of the deposit will enable us to become Russia’s first-ever domestic producer of lithium-bearing raw materials and eventually build fully local production of lithium-ion traction batteries,” Polar Lithium chief executive Igor Demidov notes. “By leveraging the synergy of assets and capabilities, Rosatom and Nornickel will accelerate the creation of a full-cycle domestic battery industry, from ore mining to the production of energy storage systems.”

Since June 2022, Nornickel has been consulting with the Sami people, local communities, public organizations and reindeer herding farms about the Kolmozerskoye project. The company also plans to propose the application of the Free Prior Informed Consent procedure to the indigenous peoples of the Murmansk Region for the project’s development.