INRTU's Engineers Made Presentations at the “Plaksinskiye Readings” In Murmansk Region
Teachers, students and graduate students of the Department of Mineral Processing and Environmental Protection named after S.B. Leonov of INRTU made reports at the International Forum “Plaksinskiye Readings” in Apatity (Murmansk Region). The event, devoted to the issues of processing of rare-metal, mining and chemical raw materials and ores, was held at the Kola Scientific Center (KSC) of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
“Plaksinskiye Readings” brought together representatives of academic and university science, employees of large enterprises - authors of more than 150 scientific researches on a wide range of topics. The conference program included reports of INRTU's employees and research organizations of Irkutsk, including JSC Irgiredmet and NPK Spirit.
Prof. Elena Zelinskaia is a co-author of the plenary report, based on joint research with Irina Shadrunova, Head of Department of the Institute for Problems of Integrated Subsoil Development of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and Natalia Orekhova, Leading Researcher.
As the speakers note, they have been studying liquid lithium ore for more than 20 years. At the opening of “Plaksinskiye Readings” scientists told about ecological, technological and economic parameters of complex processing of this type of raw materials. The speakers drew the attention of their colleagues to the industry's demand for rare-earth metals and technologies for their extraction.
“In the report, we summarized the results and prospects of processing lithium-rich brines. Also in the work we outlined how to optimize technological stages and modes so as to reduce economic costs and environmental impact of enterprises. I was the moderator of the specialized section,” explained Elena Zelinskaia.
The conference, based on the recommendations of participants fr om Irkutsk, suggested combining research efforts to develop technologies for the integrated use of hydro-mineral raw materials for implementation of the with the Strategy for the Development of the Mineral Resource Base of the Russian Federation.
A second-year PhD student Tatiana Sakhabutdinova joined the section “Flotation, gravity, magnetic and electromagnetic separation”. In 2024, she was awarded 500 thousand rubles by the Innovation Promotion Foundation to develop reagent-collectors using elemental chalcogenes. The project is collaboration between INRTU and the Irkutsk Institute of Chemistry. The research is being led by Associate Professors Alexandr Burdonov and Viacheslav Barakhtenko. Sakhabutdinova presented the intermediate results of her work at an international forum.
“We are improving the flotation process by synthesizing substances with specified properties, such as selectivity. A number of chemical substances have shown promising application in industry, research into the effectiveness of reagents continues.
The report aroused great interest among the participants of the section, they actively commented and asked questions. Especially valuable for me was the attention to the work on the part of Doctor of Technical Sciences, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences Valentin Alekseevich Chanturia. The professor suggested a vector for further research and gave ideas on the mechanism of action of one of the new reagents,” emphasized Tatiana Sakhabutdinova.
The graduate student highly appreciated the capabilities of the Apatite-Nepheline Factory and highlighted the excursion, during which the guests were shown the process of obtaining apatite raw materials for the production of fertilizers. Positive impressions were left after visiting the Khibinarium museum, which reveals the scientific potential of developing the Murmansk Region's natural resources, and the corporate museum of the Kirov branch of JSC Apatit, wh ere the process of ore mining and processing is clearly presented.
The conference program included a visit to the Lovozero Mining and Processing Plant, the only rare-metal ore enrichment enterprise in the Polar Region.
Natalia Tolmacheva, Associate Professor of the Department of Mineral Processing and Environmental Protection named after S.B. Leonov, graduate students Evgeny Fedotov and Kirill Rylov, and a student of the OP-22-1 group Elena Maksimova, also made presentations at the “Plaksinskiye Readings”.
