ST. PETERSBURG, March 16. /TASS/. The mining of rare earth metals, particularly the Tomtor deposit in Yakutia, could become a promising area of cooperation between Russia and the United States in the Arctic if bilateral relations improve, said Valery Konyshev, Doctor of Political Science, Head of the Department of Comparative Political Studies at the North-West Institute of Management of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration

"The situation is very uncertain, both in the international system as a whole and with the [US President Donald] Trump administration. Specifically, he [Trump] has been very inconsistent in his initiatives. Russia is also considered a source of military threats to US security in the Arctic, which is recorded at the doctrinal level. Looking to the future, such possibilities certainly exist," he told TASS when asked about potential areas of cooperation between Russia and the US in the Arctic. "The United States may return to a number of projects it has already abandoned in the Arctic, but if we’re talking about new and breakthrough areas in which the US and Russia are interested, it’s the development of rare earth metals. This refers to their extraction and advanced processing," Konyshev added.

Currently, only China has a full production cycle for rare earth metals, and it also holds half of the world’s proven ore reserves. "The US has a problem of access to rare earth metal ores. They are partially trying to solve this through Greenland. Trump has effectively secured preferential rights to invest in resource extraction projects in Greenland, along with the right to expand his military presence. But there’s a technology problem: it’s estimated that the US will need 10-15 years to reach industrial production, and it must still be profitable," the expert said.

Therefore, the US will continue to depend on rare earth metal supplies from China for the foreseeable future. "And this will be the main intrigue of the confrontation between the US and China, which is the leader in high technology. The US has the option of turning to Russia for cooperation if relations improve, even partially," he added.

Russia’s Arctic is home to the largest rare earth metal deposit, the Tomtor deposit, whose ores are among the richest in the world. Scientists estimate that it contains hundreds of year’s worth of reserves, even with explosive growth in consumption. "However, Russia, like the US, also lacks full-cycle technologies. Therefore, investments in a joint Russian-American project could be considered promising. Both sides have already explored the possibilities of such cooperation," Konyshev said, adding that few countries in the world benefit from China completely dominating the rare earth market.

Regarding the prospects for Russian-American cooperation in the Arctic in general, the expert believes that a return to offshore oil and gas drilling projects is possible, but first it is necessary to overcome the general crisis in international relations, which is only worsening in connection with the US intervention against Iran.