Plans have been revived to develop the apatite deposit near Oshurkovo, a village of about 400 residents located 20 kilometers from Ulan-Ude. The Selenga River, which flows into Lake Baikal, runs nearby, and this has long fueled local concern over industrial activity in the area.
The deposit was already targeted during the Soviet period. At that time, ore used for fertilizer production was transported to the neighboring village of Tapkhar. After an accident at a tailings storage facility in 1986, however, the enterprise was shut down. According to the source text, waste entered groundwater, causing a fish die-off, and, residents say, dozens of people died from poisoning.
Interest in the site resurfaced later. In 2006, the license was purchased by Daksi LTD, a company owned by the Swedish investment fund Tayga Capital ltd. It planned to invest 1 billion rubles in the project, but deputies of the People's Khural of Buryatia did not approve it.
The main objections centered on environmental risks. Deputies feared that drilling and blasting could spread apatite dust over nearby settlements, and that such dust could cause lung disease.
In 2025, the company changed its name to ApatitAgro and decided to resume work on the deposit. It brought in an investor, the Russian Copper Company (RMK).
At the end of July 2025, RMK announced plans to invest 63 billion rubles in the project. According to the company, the development is expected to create 600 new jobs and generate 50 billion rubles in tax revenue for Buryatia's budget. The company says it plans to produce fertilizer from apatite concentrate and use the remaining material in the construction of a dam in the Chelyabinsk region.