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CEO of Russia's sovereign fund says that the fund is looking at rare earth projects in partnership with US companies.

CEO of Russia's sovereign fund says that the fund is looking at rare earth projects in partnership with US companies.

Kirill Dmitriev (CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, RDIF) said that the Russian sovereign wealth fund was interested in developing rare earth deposits within the country, and wanted to partner with U.S. firms.

Dmitriev was a member of the Russian negotiating team in talks with U.S. officials at Saudi Arabia's Economic Cooperation Conference in February. He focused on economic matters.

Dmitriev, a Russian reporter, said that "Russian reserves of rare-earth metals are several times greater than the amount found in Ukraine."

In recent months, the U.S. president Donald Trump has been focusing on rare earths and critical metals that are essential to high-tech industries. This is due to his efforts to combat China's dominance.

Vladimir Putin offered to explore Russia's rare-earth metal deposits with the U.S. as part of a future deal.

Dmitriev stated that "we would like to include American companies in these project, there is a lot of interest but Russia must be interested as well."

According to U.S. Geological Survey data, Russia is the fifth largest reserve of rare earth metals in the world, after China, Brazil India and Australia. USGS estimates that Russia's reserves are 3.8 million tons.

The Russian estimate of total rare earth reserves is higher.

The Natural Resources Ministry states that Russia will have reserves of rare earth metals of 28.7 millions tons by January 1, 2023. It says that 3.8 millions tons of this total are either in development or ready to be developed. Reporting by Olesya Almakhova; writing by Gleb Brianski Editing Andrew Osborn

(source: Reuters)