Russia is considering developing its rare earth deposits and wants to collaborate with US companies, announced today (18.03.2025) Kirill Dmitriev, managing director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund. Dmitriev, who has also been appointed as a special envoy of President Vladimir Putin for international economic cooperation, was part of the negotiating team sent by Russia for talks with US officials in Saudi Arabia last February, focusing on economic issues. ‘Russia’s reserves of rare earth metals far exceed those in Ukraine, and we are examining several Russian deposits,’ Dmitriev told reporters. Rare earths and other critical metals, essential for high-tech industries, have drawn global attention recently due to US President Donald Trump’s efforts to counter China’s dominance in this sector. President Vladimir Putin has offered the US the opportunity, based on a future economic agreement, to jointly explore Russia’s rare earth deposits. ‘We would like to include American companies in these projects; there is significant interest, but Russia must also be interested,’ said Dmitriev. Russia holds the world’s fifth-largest rare earth reserves, according to data from the US Geological Survey (USGS), after China, Brazil, India, and Australia. The USGS estimates that Russia’s reserves total approximately 3.8 million metric tons. Russia’s own estimates for its total rare earth reserves are higher. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, Russia had reserves of 15 rare earth elements totaling 28.7 million tons as of January 1, 2023. Of these, 3.8 million tons are either under development or ready for development, it claims. Contacts with Musk for Mars Flights Dmitriev also mentioned that Russia sees great potential in cooperating with the US, including in the space sector, and expects to hold talks with Elon Musk soon regarding Mars missions. Dmitriev stated that Russia aims to collaborate with the CEO of SpaceX within Moscow’s efforts to strengthen and develop Russia’s space service Roscosmos and the state-owned nuclear energy company Rosatom. ‘I believe there will undoubtedly be discussions with Musk (regarding Mars flights) in the near future,’ Dmitriev said at a business forum in Moscow, praising Musk’s efforts to push the boundaries of human achievement further. Dmitriev mentioned being in contact with Roscosmos, Russian enterprises, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Russia. The billionaire entrepreneur Musk was one of the largest donors to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign and has become one of the president’s closest advisors in the White House. In 2022, Russia announced it would begin working on its own Mars mission after the suspension by the European Space Agency (ESA) of a joint project following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February that year.