The main directions and prospects for the development of the mineral raw material base of non-ferrous and rare metals in the world and in Russia

The progressive development of science and technology, the introduction of scientific achievements and discoveries in various industries have led to an increased demand in many ferrous, non-ferrous, rare, rare-earth, and trace metals. Metals and metal products are most in-demand in metallurgy and the machine-building complex. Location of metal mining facilities and mining itself are chosen based on a number of factors. These are geological (minerogenic specialization of a territory), economic (demand for mineral raw materials, conditions for field development), historical (the level of development of the infrastructure in mining and ore mining and smelting areas), political (mainly, export-import policy), and social (preservation and creation of jobs through government support, id est special state social programs). An important aspect of the development of the mineral raw materials base of metallic minerals is location of metallurgical production. The factors that affect it include the raw materials factor (namely, the location of production in the vicinity of sources of mineral raw materials), the fuel and energy factor (namely, the proximity of production to low-cost sources of electricity), et cetera. The consumer factor (namely, market opportunities) as well as the transport factor (for example, overseas shipment of metal products from a manufacturer to consumers) has assumed great importance. An important trend for metallurgical enterprises is the fixation to the centers of consumption of metals that have appropriate infrastructure and trained skilled. In addition, there has been an establishment of close connections between metallurgical enterprises and their customers as well as coordination of sales and operations planning. Vertically integrated mining and smelting companies are being established. As for non-ferrous smelters, the energy factor is currently becoming more prominent in terms of location. The reason for that is the development of metallurgy of light non-ferrous and rare metals and the displacement of metallurgical production to developing countries. Formally, the non-ferrous metals reserves are rather substantial. However, mining these metals is carried out rapidly and can exceed the accretion of these metals, which makes the problem of mineral recourses replenishment acute. Rare and trace metals are in demand only in developed countries due to scientific and technological progress. The demand for these metals given the particularly high prices is unstable. Mining and primary treatment of ores of most non-ferrous metals are performed, mainly, in developing countries, and production of metals has been transferred to developed countries. Thus, developed countries pursue the policy of conservation of their own reserves of mineral raw materials and increase imports. The non-ferrous metallurgy in these countries is dominated by the upper stage of the production cycle for metals production. Many non-ferrous metals (namely, aluminum, copper, titanium, platinum, et cetera) are obtained from recycled materials. Meanwhile, not only developing but also developed countries (for instance, Australia, UK, Germany and others) export secondary raw materials and semi-metal products. The export of aluminum and titanium semi-finished products from developed countries is associated with high energy intensity of the production. In general, analyzing the trends in the use of mineral resources base of non-ferrous and rare metals in the 2000s, it is important to emphasize an increase in mining and consumption of these metals by 3 - 10% a year, an increase in the price by 10 - 15% per year until 2005, a sharp increase in speculative prices (by a factor of 2-4) in 2006 outpacing the consumption growth. In October 2008, the global financial crisis occurred and by December 2008 there had been a sharp decline in prices for non-ferrous metals. The prices for most rare metals remained stable and tended to rise until August 2009, but they dropped by more than 50%. By the end of 2009, the prices for rare metals had returned to the level of August 2009. The prices for non-ferrous metals in 2009 had a downtrend, and by the end of the year, there had been a slight increase in prices. In 2010 - 2012 the prices continued to rise. In 2013 they fell. According to the London Metal Exchange (LME), a price decline was also noted in 2014. As for Russia, after the decline in production of most non-ferrous metals in 2009, which was caused by the global financial crisis that began in October 2008, in 2010 - 2011, the production level of the major non-ferrous metals recovered. But since 2012, there has been a decrease in production, demand and prices for some metals. However, the problem of non-ferrous and especially rare metals production still remains of relevance. More attention must be paid to further development of metallurgy in Russia because metals and metal products are one of the major sources of the country's revenue. In general, the emerging growth of production in the Russian Federation confirms the acuteness of the problem of industry supply with scarce metals and metal products obtained from ore deposits, secondary raw materials (namely, scrap metal) and technogenic mineral raw materials (namely, wastes from mining and smelting as well as fuel and energy complexes).

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