Business and
government need to ensure that the industry develops in the new geopolitical
environment
«The worsening geopolitical situation poses risks to mineral
production and consumption, such as limiting or completely banning the supply
of import-dependent types of minerals and limiting imports of technology and
equipment for geology and extraction of minerals. To overcome these risks, the
country must implement a scenario of full import substitution and
self-sufficiency, including in critical minerals,» said Dmitry Tetenkin, Deputy
Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the Russian Federation.
«The structure of our mineral resource
base is changing. Whereas, for some time, our mineral resource base was formed
of large deposits. They were the basis of production and provided the entire
output. The technology, methodology, and transport infrastructure were focused
on these deposits. The success of the industry now depends on a reorientation
towards unconventional, deep-seated deposits. This is a global trend,» said
Andrey Korniychuk, General Director of Digital Subsurface Use.
PROBLEMS
Sanctions lead to
restrictions on the supply of equipment
«The big question is about import
substitution of machinery. Not just for exploration, but also for mining. It
seems to me that there will be limitations in the next three to five years on
the amount of equipment we can produce. So we need a combination of supplies
from abroad and an increase of production in Russia,» said Sergey Stepanov,
Senior Vice President at Norilsk Nickel.
«We have two problems, import substitution
and software, such as geological software. We have few domestic equivalents [for them]. If, for example, software such as Micromine
stops updating and license validity ends, it could be a problem for the
industry,» said Sergey Zhuravlev, Vice President of Government Relations of
Polyus.
There is no authority
in Russia responsible for the analysis of inter-industry balances
«There is a need for systematic mechanisms
to analyze inter-industry production chains, inter-industry balances. It seems
to me that there is currently no institution in Russia responsible for
maintaining and analysing inter-industry balances. As a result, there is no
holistic picture of bottlenecks and potential points of growth. This is an
obstacle to strategic planning, the development of the economy as a whole, and
of individual industries,» said Andrey Korniychuk, General Director of Digital
Subsurface Use.
SOLUTIONS
Increased federal
funding for exploration
«Our plans are to focus budget funding in
two main areas. They are import-dependent raw material sites and the
revaluation of large unallocated sites. As of this year, federal funding for exploration
has been increased. We are carrying out work to find promising sites,» said
Dmitry Tetenkin, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment of the
Russian Federation.
State support for the
industry
«Measures should be taken by the government
to accelerate the commissioning of new deposits. We suggest that the state
focus specifically on critical minerals. The state can focus on finding
critical and imported minerals, such as beryllium, rare earth metals, titanium,
chromium, copper and bauxite. We need to have access to a unified system of
geological information,» said Sergey Zhuravlev, Vice President of Government
Relations of Polyus.
Technological
integration
«What the industry needs now is a
programme of technological integration that will preserve the accumulated
technological potential. This systemic work is being done one way or another,
but consolidated efforts are important here. A single subsoil user cannot
produce a product of appropriate quality. By consolidating efforts and mechanisms,
a much greater effect can be achieved,» said Andrey Korniychuk, General
Director of Digital Subsurface Use.
Read more at the Roscongress Foundation
Information and Analytical System roscongress.org
