Navigating with Atlas
Read moreAn Arctic zone resident has opened a service centre for road travellers
Investment Portal of the Arctic Zone of the Russian Federation
Elon Musk's company recognised the product of the Karelian supplier as the highest quality
03.11 // The company Flogopit is working on a project to process phlogopite mica in the Kovdor District of Murmansk Region. They are planning to replace 100% of the country's imported phlogopite concentrate and enter the global market. The status of resident of the Arctic Zone of Russia will help them complete this socially important project. The investor received this status as a part of an agreement with the Far East Development Corporation.
'The mica is mostly used in the manufacturing of electrotechnical insulation materials. There are only three deposits of this ore in the world: in Canada, Madagascar, and Russia. And the phlogopite concentrate obtained from the ore of our reserve is considered the best in the world in terms of its resistance to electricity and heat', the representative of Flogopit LLC, Pyotr Kuzenkov told us. 'In fact, we are rebuilding the old plant Kovdorslyuda that was closed in 2012. It was engaged in processing phlogopite mica and the production of concentrate. We believe it to be a very important project for the region and for the entire country'.
The investor is planning for the project to guarantee 100% import substitution for this product and give them access to the global market. They will be able to export raw materials to Asian countries and then deliver the processed product to Europe.
'We are currently working in this direction. We have successfully tested samples in cooperation with our potential partners from other countries. For example, Volvo is planning to switch to electric cars that will have insulation made with our mica. After tests, Tesla also recognised that our products have the best characteristics', Pyotr Kuznetsov said.
At the first stage, investors are going to put about RUB 54.6 mn into the project and create 39 jobs on three technological lines concerned with primary processing, secondary processing, drying, and fractionation of phlogopite.
'Our company is registered in the mono-industrial town of Kovdor. We intend to hire personnel from among the locals but there will also be employees from the other nearby towns and villages. We will work on continuous training programmes and train our workers in Saint Petersburg', the company added.
The production of raw materials and the processing and manufacturing of the concentrate will help the industry develop and form a special cluster. The next stage of the project will be deep-processing of raw materials and the manufacturing of mica paper, a product with much higher added value. It is used to make insulation for heavy industry and mechanical engineering. The potential market for mica paper includes such companies as Siemens, Bosch, and others. Flogopit owns the technology to process this product. Their application to patent this technology is currently being registered.
'We came to the AZRF, first of all, to increase our competitive potential. This way, we will be able to reinvest more money in our growth, launch new facilities, new nodes. That is why we are going to use all the preferences and tools provided to us at the federal and regional levels', Pyotr Kuzenkov emphasised.