MOSCOW, September 8. /TASS/. Discovery of new large deposits of rare earth metals in Russia in the near future in Russia is unlikely, head of the Federal Agency for Mineral Resources Oleg Kazanov said in an interview with TASS.

"I do not expect any major discoveries in rare earth metals in the near future, because they have already taken place. There are prospects for new discoveries in the Siberian and Far Eastern Federal Districts, but this is for scenarios of a sharp increase in demand," he said.

Kazanov specified that proven reserves of rare earth metals in Russia amount to 28.5 million tons, and current Russian consumption is only 2,100 tons per year.

According to him, the prospects for discovering new large deposits of solid minerals are more a question of their demand from industry.

"We are waiting for the discoveries of those metals that the country needs. Rather, this is not a geological question, but a question of the demand for metals from the point of view of industry. Here, not only in our country, but also throughout the world, the main leaders are gold, copper, lead and zinc," Kazanov said, answering the question of what metals the department is expecting to discover in large deposits. The head of the Federal Agency for Mineral Resources clarified that the main beneficiary of the new economy is not rare earth metals, but copper, because one unit of installed capacity of a wind farm requires five times more copper than the same capacity for traditional generation.