During the event, PJSC "Akron" reported on the execution of the contract on the project "Development of industrial technology for producing bulk concentrate of rare earth metals in the conditions of production of processing of apatites". Visiting Committee, chaired by the head of Department of development of industry, rare-earth, precious metals and precious stones of the Ministry of industry and trade Sergey Grishaev, praised the implementation of the investment project of Acron Group for comprehensive processing of Apatite-nepheline ores to obtain rare earth elements – cerium, lanthanum, neodymium concentrates light and heavy group of rare earth elements from the technological flow of processing of Apatite concentrate.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC "Akron" Alexander Popov said: "We managed to create a full cycle of production of rare earth elements from mining and enrichment of raw materials to obtain a commercial product of rare earth metals. This is a high – tech and flexible manufacturing, aimed at ensuring Russia's own rare earth products."

The production of REE on the Novgorod site of the Group "Akron" was put into operation in 2016 in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin. The capacity of the plant for the production of REE is 200 tons of rare earth oxides per year. The volume of investments ‒ 50 million dollars. The production involves complex processing of Apatite-nepheline ores and the extraction of rare-earth elements (REE): cerium, lanthanum, neodymium concentrates light, medium and heavy groups of REE from the process flow of Apatite concentrate processing. The raw material base for the production is Apatite concentrate from the GOK Oleniy Ruchey mine in the Murmansk region. The technology implemented at the facility, involves a high degree of REE extraction, up to 99%. The project was implemented by the scientific center of JSC "Akron" with the participation of leading Russian research centers.