Five participants join the registered cluster
Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry has registered the Nonferrous and Rare Earth Metals industrial cluster in Tomsk Region. The regional administration puts planned project expenditure at RUB6.1 billion over 2025–2031. Registration brings together five participants, with mineral processing, glassmaking and construction materials among their activities.
JSC Tugansky Mining and Processing Plant Ilmenite, or TGOK, anchors the cluster. The Rosatom Nedra division produces glass-making and quartz sand, quartz powder and ilmenite concentrate. Its mineral products form part of the planned cooperation between the participating companies.
Materials and proposed production roles
TGOK is to supply quartz glass-making sand to Interglass. The cluster’s other proposed activities include silica filler for automobile tyres, pigment titanium dioxide and paving slabs for public-space improvements. The regional administration associates each product stream with a participating manufacturer.
- Engra: silica-based fillers for tyres.
- Sibirsky Titan: pigment titanium dioxide.
- ZKPD TDSK: paving slabs.
The administration’s employment projection is 1,829 people working at the cluster’s production sites by 2031. This is a planned total workforce at that horizon, rather than a statement that 1,829 additional jobs have already been created.
Engra’s earlier silica project
Engra and Tomsk Region agreed on a silicon dioxide plant at the Innoprom exhibition in Yekaterinburg in July 2023. The company’s September 2023 investment plan envisaged an initial investment of about RUB350 million, potentially rising to RUB1.7 billion across all construction phases. A pilot line was planned for 5,000–10,000 tonnes a year.
Engra considered a site near TGOK with existing infrastructure, or an unfinished building or premises belonging to a bankrupt enterprise. TGOK’s sand would provide the raw material. The intended customer split allocated up to 70% of output to tyre makers and the remaining 30% to components used in dentistry.
Construction remains ahead for two projects
Engra and Sibirsky Titan had no production facilities in Tomsk Region when the cluster was registered. Engra’s construction had not begun. Sibirsky Titan had delayed its plant because of financing and a subsequent site change; its latest schedule envisaged construction starting in 2025 and completion in 2027.
Interglass’s planned role covers glass containers for food and technical industries, using TGOK quartz sand as its main glassmaking feedstock. The cooperation programme envisages container sizes from 0.1 to 1 litre. These product formats belong to the cluster’s announced manufacturing plans.
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