In 2023, “Newsweek” wrote that it was “the gigantic stocks of valuable metals in Ukraine” that are an argument with further aid to Kiev. The publication mentioned, among another things, titan, whose Ukrainian resources are estimated to be 20% of the world. But it's not just about titanium.
– In the territory of Ukraine, there are 21 uncommon earths from the list of 30 natural materials considered critical by the EU for the improvement of "green energy" – A year earlier, she reminded the UN of the Deputy Head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Switlana Hrynczuk, stressing that it is 5% of planet resources. – These include lithium, cobalt, scandium, graphite and niobium.
Lithium, or white gold
Litu presently does not mine in Ukraine, but its confirmed resources account for about 1/3 of European and 3% of the world. The deposits are located in the Kirovograd, Zaporosian and Donetsk Oblast. Ukraine is besides in the top 5 countries of the planet in terms of recognized graphite deposits.
They amount to about 19 million tonnes, with an average of 5 – 8 percent of this component in ore. Six deposits of industrial importance are known, but the extraction only lasts in 1 – in the Kirovograd region. It is run by an Australian company, which in 2023 concluded a contract on the supply of graphite to the U.S. Defence Ministry. There are 15 silicon-nickel deposits in the same region, as well as in the Dynepropetrovsk region, where cobalt can be additionally obtained. Its resources are estimated at about 9,000 tonnes. According to the data of the State Geological Service of Ukraine, resources of another uncommon elements have been discovered in subsequent regions of the country. For example, tantalum and niobium – in the Donetsk region, in the Djepropetrovsk region and in the Zaporosk region, and in the Beryl region – in the Żytomiersk region.
A precise estimation of this potential, and even more so of its real value, is highly hard – the experts emphasize. Above all, due to the fact that most of these deposits are discovered but inactive unexplored. – Objectively you can only measure what physically you can extract from the ground, sale and get income – reserves Iryna Suprun from the Lviv Geological Investment Group. – We have a deposit of uranium, copper, or graphite over which are the full towns. No 1 will displace half the city or 2 – 3 villages to conduct geological research.
It's a marathon, not a sprint
In addition, the extraction of uncommon earth metals is simply a profitable but costly and time consuming enterprise. According to Suprun, from the signature of papers to the extraction of the first tonne of natural material can take up to 10 to 15 years. Therefore, experts are rather careful about assessing the implementation of these plans.
Available in Ukrainian sources, even the most general estimates of the national value of deposits concern all fossil natural materials. Their value is estimated at $15 trillion, but it is the war and the Russian business that verify the actual state of affairs. More than 60% of Ukrainian coal deposits, 20% natural gas and 33% uncommon earth metals were controlled by Moscow. And right now, at a time erstwhile Kiev powerfully negotiated with the White home the terms of the transaction "help for resources", the Kremlin joined the game. On February 25, Vladimir Putin began to publically tempt Americans with access to Russian natural resources, including those located in occupied areas of Ukraine, which he called "historical territories restored to the Russian Federation".
