INTRODUCTION

This article is based on the materials of the report prepared by the authors for the conference “Laverov’s Readings-2023: Metals and Minerals in the Transition to Green Energy.”

The Karpinsky All-Russian Research Geological Institute (VSEGEI) is the leading branch institute of the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use. In this connection, it should be recalled that Nikolay Pavlovich Laverov had supervised branch institutes of the Ministry of Geology of the USSR for almost 17 years. For some time, he also headed the All-Union Geological Fund of the Ministry of Geology of the Soviet Union, where the system of resource accounting and the state balance of mineral raw materials was improved on his initiative. The practical experience gained by Nikolai P. Laverov in the Ministry of Geology contributed in many respects to his successful work as vice president of the Russian Academy of Sciences. First of all, it should be mentioned how the assessment of mineral raw-material potential of the Russian Federation is realized in our Institute. Since the establishment of the VSEGEI Geological Committee (Geolkom VSEGEI), which celebrated 141st anniversary on January 31, 2023, two scientific schools have been historically developed in the institute: regional geological study of subsoil resources and regional metallogenic studies.

Academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences S.S. Smirnov, D.S. Korzhinsky, D.V. Nalivkin, D.V. Rundquist, and A.D. Shcheglov and Corresponding Members of the Academy of Sciences Yu.A. Bilibin, P.M. Tatarinov, and L.I. Krasny made a significant contribution to the development of the metallogenic school of the Geolkom VSEGEI.

STATE SYSTEM OF REGIONAL GEOLOGICAL STUDY OF SUBSURFACE RESOURCES

The scientific schools of regional geological study of subsurface and regional metallogenic studies are inextricably linked, complement each other, and successfully realize their scientific potential within the framework of the state program of regional geological study of subsurface with the compilation of state geological maps at three scales.

All sets of state geological maps include maps of regularities of location and forecasting of mineral resources, which at each scale level have their own objects of study and solve their tasks of forecasting prospective areas.

— At the summary and overview level of geological map**, the digital 1 : 2 500 000 prognostic–mineragenic map of the Russian Federation and its continental shelf at a scale of is being updated in a monitoring mode. The main objects of study are metallogenic provinces, zones, ore districts and clusters (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1.
figure 1

The 1 : 2 500 000 prognostic-mineragenic map of the Russian Federation and its continental shelf (Petrov et al., 2017).

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This new map based on the best traditions of the Leningrad metallogenic school is one of the achievements of the system of mineragenic zoning and the scientific basis for prediction of various types of minerals of our country. At present, the development of these studies is based on the modern plate tectonic basis with the use of deep seismic sounding data and those on superdeep parametric wells. This tendency in metallogenic research is closely connected with nonlinear metallogeny, the founder of which was Acad. Alexey Dmitrievich Shcheglov.

— At the small-scale level, a set of modern geological maps for subsoil use is being created at a scale of 1 : 1 000 000 of the third generation (Fig. 2) with an assessment of the mineral-resource potential of large mineragenic zones, ore districts, clusters, and sedimentary basins.

Fig. 2.
figure 2

State geological map** of the territory of the Russian Federation and its continental shelf.

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Each new generation of geological maps of this scale level is created in 25–30 years. Thus, the mineral resource potential of Russia is reassessed in the monitoring mode, which is extremely important, because the information resource of these maps integrates not only the information contained in the State Cadaster of deposits and ore occurrence, but also information about the undiscovered mineral resource potential of our country. At present, it is more than 52 thousand promising objects. First of all, the undiscovered potential, including strategic and critical types of mineral raw materials, is characteristic of the underdeveloped regions of our country, such as the Arctic zone and the Far East federal district.

Since the 1 : 1 000 000 maps of the third-generation cover the coastal, shelf, and deep water zones, a new tendency of the metallogenic school of the VSEGEI within the framework of this scale level is to study mineralogy of sedimentary basins.

— At the medium-scale level, the 1 : 200 000 geological additional study of individual areas is carried out to reveal the mineral-resource potential of projected ore districts and nodes with outlining new objects of the “prospecting framework.” This information resource contains information on 2500 prospective areas and is available on the website of the VSEGEI. It represents the basis for the development of the licensing system in Russia, including the application principle. It should be noted that the licensing activity of subsoil users is stimulated by the very fact of staging and carrying out regional geological survey works in the Russian Federation. For example, within the limits of only one area in Khabarovsk krai after staging of GDP-200 (N-54-XXXI, Baraki–Bakan area), the number of distributed subsoil plots has doubled over the last 3 years. In the adjacent area, a number of new licenses has already appeared at the initial stages of advanced geophysical and geochemical works. The total number of licenses has increased by 2.5 times over last 3 years compared to the previous 15-year period. In total, in 2018–2022, Rosnedra issued about a thousand licenses in the areas of regional geological-survey works.

It should be emphasized that all state geological maps are accompanied by explanatory notes, which are in fact complete monographs, including a comprehensive description of the geological structure, history of geological development, and patterns of distribution of minerals. About 5000 such monographs have been created in the form of explanatory notes to maps of different generations and more than 17 thousand reports to 1 : 50 000 maps for 140 years of state geological map** of the territory of the Russian Federation. On the basis of modern digital technologies, we have united all these geological and cartographic resources into a single national information-technological complex “Digital Twin of Russian Subsoil.” This complex provides digital technology for creating a modern basis for subsoil use, as well as forecasting and prospecting of mineral deposits, from field works to electronic presentation of geological information and management of the state fund of subsoil. It includes more than 100 thousand geological maps and related explanatory notes, as well as structured databases on the mineral resources of Russia. The complex is linked with the Unified Subsurface Geological Information Fund and the Automated Subsoil Use Licensing System, as well as data from the State Cadaster of Mineral Deposits and Occurrences and the State Balance of Reserves.

In addition, this complex includes the results of isotope-geochemical and geochronological studies of magmatic and metamorphic rocks. We have combined these data into the annually updated Reference Geochronological Atlas, which also includes data of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Internet publication of the geological and cartographic resource Digital Twin of Russian Subsoil on the website of the VSEGEI made it available to the multimillion audience. The number of requests for this website has recently exceeded 100 million users.

Before closing the characterization of the state system of regional geological study of subsurface resources, implemented in the system of Rosnedra and the VSEGEI, it is necessary to reflect below how this system provides the assessment of mineral and raw material potential of the Russian Federation.

In 2022, the VSEGEI completed compiling new digital maps of patterns of regularities of distribution and prediction of epithermal gold–silver and large black shale gold deposits, as well as gold–copper porphyry deposits (Petrov et al., 2020). It should be emphasized that six employees of our institute were recently awarded the honorary title “Discoverer of the Field” for their participation in the discovery of a number of porphyry deposits in the Far East federal district.

Develo** the scientific basis of prediction of gold–copper porphyry mineralization, we have introduced innovative technologies to analyze geochemical compositions of trace and rare-earth elements in accessory zircons from magmatic complexes into the practice of the VSEGEI. The results of these studies made it possible to sort out prospecting targets into potentially ore-bearing and obviously barren ones, thereby reducing the number of previously identified prospective exploration targets from 200 to 20, i.e., more than 10 times.

DIGITAL MONOMETAL MAPS OF REGULARITIES OF LOCATION AND FORECAST OF STRATEGIC AND CRITICAL TYPES OF MINERALS IN RUSSIA AT A SCALE OF 1 : 2 500 000. RESOURCE POTENTIAL AND RECOMMENDATIONS

In 2022, the VSEGEI completed the compilation of a set of 1 : 2 500 000 digital monometal maps of patterns of distribution and forecasting of strategic and critical types of minerals, such as manganese, chromium, titanium, zirconium, beryllium, lithium, and rare-earth metals (Fig. 3). Let us dwell on the characteristics of some of them.

Fig. 3.
figure 3

The 1 : 2 500 000 maps of regularities of location and forecast of the main geological and industrial types of deposits of critical minerals in the territory of the Russian Federation.

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Manganese

Russia is characterized by a large raw material base of manganese ores and is one of the world’s top ten holders of reserves of Mn. At the same time, our country does not produce commodity raw materials and the industry uses commodity manganese ores and ferroalloys purchased abroad (Kazakhstan, South Africa, China, and other countries) (State Report, 2021). This is due to the fact that the complex carbonate industrial type of ores with metal content up to 20% dominates the raw-material base of manganese of Russia. According to (Mashkovtsev et al., 2017), the total import in terms of crude ores is 1500–1600 thousand t and for metal, 655 thousand t; the total import costs are US$577 million.

At present, since 2013, there is no commercial development of manganese deposits in Russia. In 2017, only pilot production began; in 2020, its volume amounted to 188 thousand t (State Report, 2021).

The 1 : 2 500 000 map of regularities of distribution and forecasting the main geological and industrial types of deposits of critical minerals in the territory of the Russian Federation (manganese) compiled at the VSEGEI shows 22, 38, and 88 manganese-specialized mineralogenic zones and ore districts and clusters, respectively. Based on expert assessments performed in our institute, the inferred resources of various types of manganese ores at 144 mineragenic sites in Russia are several times higher than the resources reflected by the State System of Accounting (Fig. 4).

Fig. 4.
figure 4

Results of expert reassessment of manganese ore resources at 144 sites.

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The largest number of objects is identified within the Altai–Sayan mineragenic province, which is also the leader in the sum of inferred resources of all categories. It contains 26.53% of all-Russian resources of the P1 category, 31.38% of resources of the P2 category, and 27.61% of resources of the P3 category. The Ural mineragenic province, within which 2.87% of P1 category, 32.28% of P2 category, and 9.77% of P3 category manganese ore resources are concentrated, is the second in terms of inferred resources of manganese ores.

In addition, according to state geological map** data, the high-priority targets for the most promising geological and industrial types of manganese ores have been identified, taking into account the technologies of processing available in the country. The main amount of inferred resources of the P3 category is concentrated within prospective areas and ore clusters in the West Siberian, Pai-Khoi–Novaya Zemlya, and Altai–Sayan mineragenic provinces, while the main number of targets is identified in the Altai–Sayan (23.53% of the total number) and Ural (26.47%) provinces. The inferred resources of the P3 category are localized mainly in large areas with high geological uncertainty and unclear prospects of manganese-ore mineralization, in hard-to-reach and infrastructural undeveloped territories. It is these areas that are associated with further increment of inferred resources of higher categories and estimated reserves under favorable conditions during carrying out medium- and large-scale geological surveying, geological–mineralogical and prospecting works at the scale of 1 : 200 000 and 1 : 50 000.

A significant increase of prospective areas for manganese can be expected within the East Siberian mineragenic province, in the zones of stratigraphic unconformity between Jurassic terrigenous and Paleozoic carbonate rock complexes in the Lena River basin.

The deposits of weathering crust formation are the most promising among the manganese ore deposits. They include volcanogenic–carbonate–terrigenous and iron–manganese terrigenous–siliceous–carbonate (Parnok type) characterized by brownite and pyrolusite–psilomelane composition, which are favorable from the point of view of mineralization parameters and the possibility of obtaining Mn concentrates. They account for 22.6% of inferred resources of the P1 category, 41.5% of the category P2, and 45.5% of the category P3 of the total inferred resources in the Russian Federation

Unfortunately, the development of Russian manganese ore deposits is constrained by the lack of effective technologies for enrichment and processing of low-quality ores, as well as by the lack of infrastructure in the areas of localization of most promising targets (State Report, 2021).

Chromium

Chromium ores are valuable raw materials for metallurgical, refractory, chemical, and other industries. In terms of consumption in Russia, chromium ores are second only to iron ores. Their main consumer is the metallurgical industry (75–80%); a smaller volume (10–15%) is used in the chemical industry and other industries (3–5%) (Nikolaev et al., 2021). Russia ranks second in the world after China in terms of imports of commodity chromium ores.

As of January 1, 2021, the balance chromium reserves in Russia amounted to 51.8 mln t in 33 primary deposits and a group of placer deposits; estimated resources are about 250 mln t. At the same time, three quarters of the proven reserves and resources are inactive for technological and economic reasons. About 90% of chromium ore are supplied to Russia by Kazakhstan; the rest is purchased from South Africa and Turkey.

Nevertheless, the production volumes of chrome ferroalloys allow the country to become one of the world’s major producers, as the volume of ferrochrome produced in Russia exceeds the needs of domestic metallurgical plants, which has determined its significant exports (State Report, 2021). However, the development of the domestic chromium industry is constrained by the low quality of ores (poor 45–30% and low-grade 30–10%) of the largest sites (Aganozer and Sopcheozer deposits) containing nonmetallurgical chromites. The development of the latter requires the introduction of new technology solutions for enrichment and metallurgical processes.

Currently, the industry uses ores containing more than 35% Cr2O3 that do not require enrichment. However, only a quarter of the reserves of the Russian Federation correspond to this level. The reserves of chromite ores are concentrated in the Karelian–Kola mineragenic province, where almost 70% of the Russia’s balance reserves are concentrated. The largest Russian deposits are located here: Aganozer in the Republic of Karelia and Sopcheozer in Murmansk oblast. They belong to the stratiform geological and industrial type and are characterized by poor Cr2O3 ores of chemical and refractory types. The rest of reserves are accounted for in the Urals federal district, including its Arctic zone, as well as in the Volga federal district. The Ural chromite ore deposits belong to the alpine-type type (the Tsentralnoe and Zapadnoe fields in the Yamal-Nenets autonomous district). In the Middle and Southern Urals (Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk oblasts, Perm krai), there are deposits of stratiform, alpine-type, and alluvial types. The main amount of chrome ore reserves is contained in the Main Sarany and South Sarany stratiform deposits of Perm krai. The ores of these deposits are poor at average Cr2O3 content are 39 and 37.7%, respectively.

Within the territory of Russia, 15 metallogenic zones, 19 ore and potentially ore districts and 67 ore clusters have been identified as metallogenic subdivisions of different rank specialized for chromium ores. The vast majority of these subdivisions are located in the Far East, Ural, and Volga federal districts. The Ural mineragenic province leads in terms of volume of total inferred resources of chromium ores of various categories. It contains 76.77% of all-Russian P1 category resources, 86.67% of P2 category resources, and 61.70% of P3 category resources. The Altai–Sayan mineragenic province, which contains 3.14% of P1 chromium ore resources, 12.97% of P2 resources, and 28.65% of P3 resources, is the second in terms of inferred chromium-ore resources. In addition, the Aldan–Stanovoi mineragenic province (4.83% of all-Russian chrome-ore resources of the same category) has relatively high inferred chromium ore resources of the P3 category. In general, the inferred resources of chromium ores in Russia estimated for 79 prospective targets, shown on the compiled 1 : 2 500 000 map of patterns of distribution and prediction of the main geological and industrial types of deposits of critical minerals (chromium) in the territory of the Russian Federation are estimated at 318.2 (Р1), 840.4 (P2), and 1242.2 (Р3) mln t (Fig. 3).

Within the Russian Federation, chromium ores are attributed to four ore-formation types: iron-ore chromium–nickel formation of the weathering crust, platinum–chromite formation of the peridotite–pyroxenite–gabbro–norite complexes, chromite formation of the dunite–pyroxenite–gabbro complexes, and chromite formation of the dunite–peridotite complexes, as well as chromite-bearing placers. Moreover, deposits of almost all chromium ore formations of Russia have been identified within the Ural mineragenic province, while, within other provinces, as a rule, only one ore formation has been identified. For example, within the Altai–Sayan and Aldan–Stanovoi mineragenic provinces, ore objects of mainly chromite formation of the dunite–peridotite complex have been identified; within the Karelian-Kola mineragenic province, the platinum–chromite formation of the peridotite–pyroxenite–gabbronorite complex.

To replenish the prospecting framework for chromite ores, the VSEGEI recommends early stage exploration for alpine-type (polymorphic) chromite ore objects in ultramafic rocks of the Urals, Altai–Sayan, and Okhotsk–Koryak mineragenic provinces, as well as recommending forecasting and mineragenic work for objects of stratiform deposits of medium chromite type in the Archean greenstone structures of Eastern Karelia. At present, the study of this geological and industrial type is high-risk, but it is the only area that can provide discovery of medium- and large-scale chromium deposits with acceptable quality of raw materials.

Titanium

Titanium is a key element in the development of the most advanced technologies in many countries worldwide. It has a dual purpose, being indispensable in military and civil aviation, in the production of civil and military planes, helicopters, naval ships, tanks, and ballistic missiles.

The main producers of titanium raw materials in the world are China, Australia, Canada, and South Africa, which consistently provide about 60% of the world output of titanium concentrate.

Russia has one of the world’s largest raw-material bases of titanium, which accounts for 15% of the world reserves and is sufficient to meet the country’s domestic needs in titanium raw materials. The factor restraining the development of primary titanium deposits confined to gabbro complexes is the absence in the country of industrial technology for processing of high-Ti titanium–magnetite (iron ore) concentrates obtained from ores of these deposits together with ilmenite (titanium) concentrate. Development of placer deposits is complicated by the presence of complex ores, which complicates the ore processing; not all products that are extracted find consumers, which negatively affects the profitability of projects. It is clear from the above why the contribution of the Russian Federation to the world production of titanium concentrates is only 0.03% (State Report, 2021).

Almost all Russian enterprises use imported titanium raw materials. However, this does not prevent the country from being one of the three major world producers of sponge titanium and the largest producer of titanium-dioxide pigment in Eastern Europe. The current annual demand of Russian enterprises for titanium concentrates is approximately 365 000 t. It is almost completely satisfied by import of ilmenite (about 340 000 t) and rutile (about 12 000 t) concentrates. Based on the capacity of Lovozersky GOK, it can provide only about 13 000 t of loparite concentrate (State Report, 2021). As of January 1, 2021, the balance of titanium reserves amounted to 606 900 000 t of TiO2. They are contained in 18 primary (97% of reserves) and 15 alluvial deposits; two more primary and two alluvial deposits contain only off-balance reserves (Mashkovtsev et al., 2016; Ershova et al., 2016).

Analyzing the mineragenic zoning of Russia as a whole, it should be emphasized that the predominant number of ore districts and clusters, including their potential varieties, and, accordingly, the volume of reserves and inferred resources of titanium ores, are located administratively within the Far East, Siberian, and Ural, as well as Central and Northwest, federal districts. Within the complexes of ancient and young platforms, there are large placers; within other geostructural zones (shields of ancient platform: Baltic and Adan), fold-and-thrust structures (the Urals), there are mainly primary deposits.

Industrial titanium deposits of the Russian Federation are confined to two groups of geological formations: alluvial formations (coastal-basin and proluvial-deltaic) and formations of magmatic and ultrametamorphic rocks—gabbro–anorthosite, stratified (differentiated), and multiphase intrusions of mafic, ultramafic, and alkaline-ultramafic composition.

An important direction of geological prospecting and exploration should be the search and assessment of deposits in gabbroids with high content of ilmenite in ores and low content of titanomagnetite. At these deposits, it will be technologically possible and economically feasible to produce only titanium dioxide. Manifestations of this type have been established in the Karelian–Kola region and in Primorye.

Within the territory of the Russian Federation and its continental shelf inferred resources of titanium ores and titanium are localized at 147 objects of categories P1, P2, and P3 of 526 975, 153 212, and 3 520 339 mln t, respectively (Fig. 3), without taking into account the objects where inferred resources are calculated for metallic Ti, Ti, and Ti–Zr sands and ilmenite.

Primary ores of titanomagnetite and apatite–ilmenite–titanomagnetite geological and industrial types located in East Siberia are of the greatest interest in our country. Nomenclature sheets, within the limits of which ore objects of different rank are manifested, requiring in the nearest future, in any case until 2026, need staging of GDP-200/2 (or GMK-200), as this is most favorable in the prognostic plan. These sheets are of the Aldan–Stanovoi mineragenic province: the Kodar–Udokan mineragenic zone, the Udokan ore cluster with forecast ore resources (mln t) of P1 1255, P2 300, and P3 800, with average grades (%) of Fe 34.65, TiO2 6.27, and V2O5 0.54; in the Altai–Sayan mineragenic province, the potential Malotagul ore cluster with inferred ore resources (mln t) of P1 1255, P2 300, and P3 800, with average grades (%) of Fe 23.8, TiO2 5.26, and V2O5 0.18. In addition, a set of 1 : 200 000 scale sheets including the Chogar potential ore cluster with inferred resources of Ti ores of P3 category of 52 mln t, with grades (%) of TiO2 2–14, P2O5 2–7, and V 0.01–0.3, deserves attention.

However, the factor restraining the development of primary titanium deposits associated with gabbroid complexes in our country is the lack of industrial technology of their processing.

Zirconium

The scope of application of zirconium is quite extensive due to its high wear resistance and thermal conductivity and low degree of interaction with other metals. The main use of zirconium is in the production of ceramic products (53.4%). It is also used in foundries (13.6%), production of refractory bricks and other refractory materials (12.6%), the chemical industry (14.8%), nuclear power (0.5%), electronics (3%), etc. (2.1%).

Russia has significant balance reserves of zirconium—11.6 mln t. The off-balance reserves are estimated at 12.3 mln t. In terms of their amount, Russia ranks third in the world after Australia (31.86% of world reserves) and South Africa (8.74% of world reserves). Ukraine, the United States, India, and Brazil account for 3–1% of the world reserves (State Report, 2021). The State Balance of Reserves of Russia accounts for 17 zirconium deposits, including 11 alluvial deposits, 5 primary deposits, and 1 technogenic deposit.

By sum of explored zirconium reserves, Russia ranks third in the world after Australia and South Africa. However, the structure of the zirconium resource base of Russia differs significantly from the global one, 95% of which is represented by placer deposits. In Russia, placer deposits account for only one-third of the balance reserves, and two thirds are reserves of objects of magmatic origin with hard-to-enrich complex ores, which are localized in the Republic of Tyva and Transbaikalia. Such deposits are not developed anywhere else in the world.

The titanium placer deposits in Russia are rather deep-laid; ores are free-milling ores and have low ZrO2 content. They were developed within the sedimentary covers of ancient and young platforms of Russia and are not of significant interest from the economic point of view.

The most promising ore objects among the primary zirconium deposits are those associated with large stratified and differentiated massifs of ultramafic and ultra-alkaline composition.

Russia exports about 95% of zirconium of the production volume to Europe, Japan, China, and the United States. At the same time, the domestic demand for zirconium is 8000–9000 t per year. In other words, the need of Russian enterprises in zirconium is satisfied exclusively by import (State Report, 2021).

Based on the data of Gosgeolkarta-1000/3 and GK-200/2 (tested by Rosnedra), the Cadaster of the P3 category inferred resources of the VSEGEI, and the Cadaster of the P1 and P2 category inferred resources of FSUE TsNIGRI, SPR data for 2022 as of January 1, 2022, the inferred zirconium resources in terms of ZrO2 were estimated and assessed at 44 objects within the territory of the Russian Federation and its continental shelf by categories P1, P2, and P3 (3450.9, 34 247.2, 242 796.2 thousand t of ore, respectively) (Fig. 3). The tested inferred resources of zirconium exceed the total balance reserves by 5.5 times and those of the explored categories A + B + C1 by 11 times (Levchenko et al., 2021). At the same time, the most promising objects in terms of the total amount of inferred resources of zirconium are the Aldan–Stanovoi mineragenic province, Katugin zirconium–rare-earth-metal ore cluster with inferred resources of P2 category of 7 738 200 t of ZrO2, which includes 7 738 200 t of ZrO2, including the Katugin zircon–pyrochlore–cryolite ore deposit of the zirconium–rare-earth–niobium–tantalum feldspatolith ore formation; East Siberian mineragenic province, the Esei zirconium–iron-ore–apatite ore cluster of apatite–rare-earth–zirconium–tantalum–niobium carbonatite formation with total inferred resources of P1 category of 1823.1 thousand t of ZrO2, and Karelian–Kola mineragenic province, Kovdor apatite-iron ore cluster with forecast ZrO2 resources of zirconium-rare earth-zirconium-niobium-tantalum feldspatolith ore formation of 300 thousand t.

Analysis of the created GIS-project “The 1 : 2 500 000 Map of regularities of location and forecast of deposits of critical minerals (zirconium) in the territory of the Russian Federation” and the manifestation of forecast criteria of different formation types of zirconium mineralization on this map allowed to outline for staging GDP-200/2 and/or GMK-200 sheets on a scale of 1 : 200 000 as the most favorable for localization of zirconium deposits, recommended for works up until 2026. These are Esei ore cluster (R-48-XXV sheet) within the East Siberian mineragenic province and the Ingili potential ore cluster (O-53-XVI sheet) within the Aldan–Stanovoi mineragenic province.

Lithium

Lithium is one of the rare metals that is most in demand by military and civilian industries. In addition, the nuclear and military industries cannot do without it. It is used in almost all batteries of modern devices, including traction batteries of electric vehicles. Lithium can also be used in thermonuclear energy. By 2030, the electricity capacity of nuclear power plants in Russia may increase to 60 GW (21 GW in 2000); the share of nuclear power in electricity generation will increase by more than 33% (Redkie zemli, 2016). Explosive demand for this metal is currently predicted due to the development of new technologies.

The largest lithium deposits are known in granite pegmatitesFootnote 1 of Na–Li type. It is also concentrated in hydrothermal formations, which are characterized by a close association of it with fluorine. In addition, it is also concentrated in sedimentary formations, during the transformation of lithium-bearing minerals in the zone of hypergenesis, including in the brine of salt lakes.

Over the last half century, dozens of the largest lithium deposits with reserves from 1 to 11 mln t of Li2O have been discovered in the world; up to 70% of lithium is produced currently abroad by exploitation of brines and that of drainless salt lakes with contents of 0.06–0.5% (hydromineral source) (Melentiev, 2016). In Russia, hydromineral sources of lithium are known in deposits in the Irkutsk region (autonomous sources of deep highly mineralized waters), the Komi republic (associated waters of oil and gas production facilities) and the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) (geotherms, associated brines of oil and gas, diamond deposits, etc.), as well as in Crimea, Dagestan, Stavropol krai, and Astrakhan and Orenburg oblast (Klyucharev et al., 2021). Large, poorly explored lithium reserves in the Russian Federation are associated with formation brines in the areas of hydrocarbon exploration and production in Eastern Siberia. To date, according to specialists of FSUE IMGRE, deep brines of the Angara–Lena basin within the Zhilalovskaya mineragenic zone, where there are 35 wells with self-pouring brines, are the most real hydromineral resource of lithium (Fig. 5). The brines contain Mg, Ca, Br, Li, and Sr.

Fig. 5.
figure 5

A fragment of the 1 : 2 500 000 map of regularities of location and forecast of the main geological and industrial types of deposits of scarce minerals (lithium) on the territory of the Russian Federation. (Zhigalovskaya mineralogenic zone of East Siberian mineragenic province).

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The first lithium mine in Russia was commissioned back in 1941 in Eastern Transbaikalia at the Zavitin spodumene deposit (0.5–0.6% Li2O). This enterprise operated for 56 years, until 1997, when it was abandoned due to changes in the economic situation in Russia. Since the late 1990s, the lack of the domestic lithium products was compensated by importing them. It is obvious that the realization of import substitution of lithium and other valuable components of hydromineral raw materials in our country is possible due to accelerated involvement of new deposits in Irkutsk, Astrakhan, and Arkhangelsk oblast and the Komi Republic into complex industrial use.

Russia is one of the world’s leading countries in terms of lithium reserves. The State Balance lists lithium reserves in 17 deposits. However, lithium deposits are not developed and lithium raw materials are not currently produced in the Russian Federation (Bortnikov et al., 2022).

From 2020 to 2022, the Department of Metallogeny of the VSEGEI studied spatial and temporal patterns of distribution of lithium mineralization in the Russian Federation. The GIS project “The 1 : 2 500 000 Map of Regularities of Distribution and Forecast of the Main Geological and Industrial types of Lithium Deposits in the Territory of the Russian Federation” was compiled.

The inferred Li2O resources, presented in the sets of sheets of Gosgeolkarta-1000/3 and GK-200/2 (evaluated by Rosnedra), the Cadaster of inferred resources of P3 category of the VSEGEI, and inferred resources of P1 and P2 categories of the Cadaster of TsNIGRI SPR data for 2022 on the territory of the Russian Federation are localized at 28 objects (category P1, 15 856 t; category P2, 619.2 t; category P3, 795 100 t).

The most promising objects are located in

—Altai-Sayan mineragenic province: Tastyg ore cluster, inferred resources of lithium oxide by categories P1, 176 000 t; P2, 210 000 t, and P3, 8000 t are localized in the lithium (spodumene) pegmatite formation; the forecasted Solbeldyr ore cluster, inferred lithium oxide resources by categories P1, 100 000 t; P2, 150 000 t; and P3, 250 000 t are localized also in the lithium (spodumene) pegmatite formation.

— Aldan–Stanovoi mineragenic province: Eryuss potential ore cluster (lithium (spodumene) pegmatite formation) with inferred resources of lithium oxide by categories: P1, 200 000 t; P2, 180 000 t; and P3, 300 000 t. Urik–Iya gold-uranium-rare-metal ore-bearing zone with inferred resources of lithium oxide by categories: P1, 550 000 t, localized in the formation of rare-metal, Li-bearing rare-metal, tin-ore pegmatites.

— Baikal mineragenic province: Dzheltulin potential ore zone with inferred resources of lithium oxide P1, 47 000 t, and P3, 33 000 t, localized in the formation of rare-earth and lithium rare-metal apogranites and alkaline metasomatites.

— Verkhoyansk–Kolyma mineragenic province: Arga—Ynakh–Khai ore cluster. Inferred resources of lithium oxide by categories: P1, 2030 t, and P2, 99 610 t. Localized in the formation of rare-earth-rare metal apogranites and alkaline metasomatic rocks.

The most promising lithium deposits in Russia are those of the following ore formations: lithium (spodumene) pegmatites and rare-metal and rare-earth apogranites and alkaline metasomatic rocks, as well as mineralization of surface and subsurface rare-metal-bearing brine (lithium-bearing solution formation, lithium halide formation), which is widely developed abroad but poorly studied in Russia.

Of the 1 : 200 000 nomenclature sheets, only three sets are the most promising for detection of the industrial object, which can be recommended for GDP-200 and GMK-200 staging:

— Group of sheets M-47-XIII, -XIX, and –XX; Altai–Sayan mineragenic province; Tastyg ore district; and Tastyg and Solbeldyr ore districts.

— Group of sheets N-48-V and, -XII, East Siberian mineragenic province, Zhigalov mineragenic zone, Yukhtin potential ore district. Total inferred resources of the P2 + P3 category are about 120 000 t of lithium. Lithium halide formation.

— Sheet N-47-XXX, Altai–Sayan mineragenic province, Urik–Iya ore district.

Analyzing the mineragenic zoning of Russia as a whole, it should be emphasized that the predominant number of ore districts and clusters, including their potential varieties and, accordingly, the volume of reserves and inferred resources of lithium, are located in the mineragenic provinces of shields of ancient platforms, accretionary–collisional–active margin covers of young and ancient platforms, including activated, located mainly within the Far East, Siberian, Ural, and Northwest federal districts of the Russian Federation.

Rare-Earth Metals

The unambiguous leader in rare-earth metal production and their supply to the world market is China, which is the only country that supplies all types of rare-earth products from raw materials to finished products.

Russia has a large raw material base of REMs, including yttrium-group REMs, which are included in the list of priority types of strategic mineral raw materials, which are imported from abroad in significant volumes and are especially important for domestic industry (order no. 2473-r of the Government of the Russian Federation dated September 30, 2022). It should be emphasized that, at present, it is practically impossible to develop and implement all resource- and energy-saving technologies without the use of rare-earth metals: solar energy, ultra-high-speed transport on a magnetic cushion, infrared optics, fiber-optic electronics, lasers, and latest-generation computers. At the same time, commercial REM mining in Russia is limited. Development of known deposits is constrained by the lack of efficient industrial facilities for processing ores and concentrates, low domestic demand, and high competition from China. As a result, domestic consumption of rare-earth products is fully satisfied by forced imports (State Report, 2021).

The raw material base of rare-earth metals in the Russian Federation is characterized by a high territorial concentration within Murmansk oblast (Fig. 6) and is associated with the industrial development of the Lovozero deposit. In addition, up to 45% of the explored reserves of rare-earth metals in Russia is in ore objects in carbonatite massifs, located primarily in the Siberian and Far East federal districts, the Tomtor deposit in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), Chuktukon deposit in Krasnoyarsk krai, and Beloziminskoye deposit in Irkutsk oblast. The most promising objects in terms of inferred resources are located in the East Siberian, Altai–Sayan, and Verkhoyansk–Kolyma mineragenic provinces.

Fig. 6.
figure 6

A fragment of the 1 : 2 500 000 digital map of regularities of location of the main geological and industrial types of deposits of scarce minerals (rare-earth metals) in the territory of the Russian Federation (Karelian-Kola mineragenic province).

Full size image

Rare-earth elements of the yttrium group are concentrated in alkaline granitoids with aegirine, arfvedsonite, ribekite, and biotite. Intensive development of yttrium mineralization is often observed in granitic pegmatites, albitites, and greisens.

Despite the fact that many yttrium minerals are resistant to destruction and form placers, yttrium fluorides and silicates transform under chemical weathering into unstable aqueous carbonates and phosphates. At present, the main source of the heavy rare-metal group are clays with ion-sorbed REMs,Footnote 2 mined in China.

The security of Russia with REM ultimate reserves at the current level of reserves depletion is more than 253 years. REM are extracted from 2% of mined ores. The insignificant volume of products consumed by domestic enterprises is almost entirely covered by import, mainly from the UAE and China. This is due to the absence of REM separation facilities in Russia, as well as due to the low level of demand for end products required in high-tech industries: electronics, optics, special ceramics and alloys, permanent magnets, electric cars, wind generators (State Report, 2021).

As of January 1, 2021, the balance reserves of REMs amounted to 31.8 mln t of ΣTR2O3, which are contained in 17 primary deposits; one more deposit contains only off-balance reserves. In addition, two technogenic deposits with total reserves of 12 900 t of ΣTR2O3 are taken into account.

The main reserves of rare-earth metals in Russia are concentrated in the Northwest, Far East, and, to a lesser extent, Siberian federal districts, in apatite–nepheline and loparite industrial types of deposits and ores, as well as in weathering crusts on carbonatite massifs and rare-metal ores. As of January 1, 2022, the total Russian reserves of rare-earth ores in Russia are as follows: balance reserves 28 780 600 t (A + B + C1 + C2), off-balance reserves 11 602 520 t. The inferred resources for 70 prospective objects by categories P1, P2, and P3 are 15 152 700, 10 520 600, and 7 722 200 t, respectively (Fig. 3).

The most promising objects by the number of inferred resources are located in

— the East Siberian mineragenic province, Udzha mineragenic zone with inferred resources TR2O3 (thousand t): Р1—12700; Р2—3920; Р3—2430;

— the Altai–Sayan mineragenic province, Karasug iron-rare earth cluster with inferred resources of TR2O3 (thousand t): P1—115; P2—3700; Ulatai iron-rare earth cluster with inferred TR2O3 resources (thousand t): Р2—1000; and

— the Verkhoyansk–Kolyma mineragenic province, Khamin ore cluster with inferred TR2O3 resources (thousand t): P1—1133; P3—1699; Gornoozer ore cluster with inferred TR2O3 resources (thousand t): Р1—1240.

It should be emphasized that, among the most promising deposits of rare-earth elements are deposits of rare earth—zirconium–tantalum-niobium nepheline–syenite; apatite–iron ore alkaline–ultramafic–carbonatite and apatite–rare earth–zirconium–tantalum–niobium carbonatite ore formations. The essentially yttrium composition of REEs is characteristic of the objects of the Mironov ore occurrence type (Ural mineragenic province) with inferred TR2O3 resources of P3 category of 93 000 t.

Among the most promising nomenclature sheets for identification of the industrial object are five groups of sheets, which can be recommended for staging of GDP-200 and GMK-200 sheets.

(1) Sheet O-46-VIII, Altai–Sayan mineragenic province, Kiya potential ore cluster. Inferred resources of P2 category are 35 400 t of TR2O3 + ThO2;

(2) A set of sheets O-49-XXVIII and -XXXIII, Baikal mineragenic province, Synnyr–Burpaaky potential ore cluster.

(3) Sheet R-50-IX, East Siberian mineragenic province, Bogdo ore cluster, Tomtor ore cluster, with inferred TR2O3 resources (thousand t): P1—12 700; P2—3920; P3—2430.

(4) A set of sheets R-48-VIII, -XII, -XIII, -XVI, -XIX, -XXII, -XXIV, and -XXV, East Siberian mineragenic province, Anabar Shield.

(5) A set of sheets R-47-XVII, -XVIII, and -XXIV, East Siberian mineragenic province, Maymecha–Kotui mineragenic zone. Changit, Dalbykha–Bor–Uryakh ore clusters.

CONCLUSIONS

Finishing this article, it is necessary to consider a number of general problems of the state and reproduction of the mineral resource base of strategic and critical types of minerals in our country. As follows from the above materials, one of the general problems of effective development of Russia’s mineral resource base is the lack or insufficient development of domestic technologies for processing of mineral raw materials. At present, the United States, Germany, Switzerland and Japan are the leaders in terms of total expenditures on research and development in this area. In Russia, there is a significant lag in the development of high technologies of mineral raw materials processing. This niche in the system of state regulation turned out to be unoccupied. Recently, the Federal Agency for Subsoil Use has paid attention to this problem and is trying to solve it by means of subordinate institutes. “… In general, the raw-material base of the Russian Federation is competitive in a global context that allows one to develop an industry of a full technological cycle from extraction to final products within its own territory” (Dimukhamedov et al., 2021).

As another, no less important problem of reproduction of the mineral-resource base may be said to be the depletion of the prospecting framework for many types of minerals. It should be noted that, due to the lack of funding of the prospecting component in the state geological map** on the scale of 1 : 200 000, many identified prospective areas with resources of P3 category remain still understudied. Therefore, we consider it expedient to carry out the third stage of large-scale regional geological survey works on the scale of 1 : 50 000 and 1 : 25 000 in these areas, as it allows localizing prospective areas of the rank of potential ore fields with resources of P2 category within their limits. In this connection, it is necessary to emphasize that regional geological survey works have always been the basis of reproduction of mineral raw material base of the country and insufficient attention to the regional stage of geological study of subsoils have led to the deficit of forecasting and prospecting areas and crisis of reproduction of mineral raw material base. In addition, the presence of prospecting framework, expressed in localized and estimated forecasting resources, is a necessary condition for long-term development of the minerals resource base.

The current problems of reproduction of the mineral resource base are largely due to the fact that general prospecting and large-scale geological map** are practically excluded from the stages of regional works. By order of the Ministry of Geology of the Soviet Union no. 169 of 1982, however, this large-scale stage was defined as the main one for regional study of the country and allocation of prospective areas with localized resources of P1 and P2 categories. Geological survey of this scale (17 thousand sheets) covered all major mining areas of Russia. In terms of their content, these works belonged to the stage of “general prospecting”. Based on the results obtained, hundreds of new deposits were discovered.

In the existing Strategy for the Development of the Mineral Resource Base of the Russian Federation, this stage of “general prospecting” have been completely missed and immediately faced the exhaustion of the “prospecting framework.” We believe that GDP- and GMK-50 staging in the form of geological and mineragenic additional appraisal of the previously mapped areas at the expense of funding providing by the state for prospecting will allow one to solve the problem of reproduction of the mineral resource base of the country at the level of effective use of budgetary funds and attraction of private investment.

No out-of-scale mineragenic research, which are practiced today by many companies under the guise of regional works will never solve this problem.