Irkutsk Oil Company (Inc.) can count on support measures from the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade as part of a project to extract lithium from reservoir waters. We are talking about possible assistance in terms of technologies for the extraction and processing of strategically important raw materials, the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment told InfoTEK.

“In terms of the competence of the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia and Rosnedra, close cooperation has been established with companies to resolve issues arising in the sectors supervised by the departments. Support measures may be required from the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade, for example, in terms of machinery and technologies for the extraction and deep processing of mineral raw materials, as well as from other departments,” the ministry noted.

The agency recalled that the company’s structure, Irkutsk Chemical Company LLC (formerly INC-Lithium), has already received a license for geological exploration, exploration and production at the V.I. Kokorin industrial groundwater deposit. The reserves of the site have been approved in the amount of 17 thousand cubic meters per day, experimental work is underway at the field.

Lithium is included in the list of strategic types of mineral raw materials. Currently, four deposits of lithium-containing waters are listed on the state balance sheet: named after Kokorin, Znamenskoye, Romashkinskoye and Kuyumbinskoye, the ministry told InfoTEK. Their total reserves amount to 32.3 thousand cubic meters per day. It has not yet been announced when their industrial development will begin.

As previously stated by Evgeny Tanin, Director of the Department of State Policy and Regulation in the field of Geology and Subsoil Use at the Ministry of Natural Resources, Inc. has already balanced the first lithium reserves at deposits in the Irkutsk region, without specifying details.

According to him, the extraction of lithium from the reservoir waters of oil and gas fields is a promising direction, since infrastructure has already been created at such facilities, which avoids large capital expenditures. It was also reported that Inc. is preparing to launch a pilot lithium extraction plant as part of its own gas project in the Irkutsk region.

@Infotek_Russia