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The world is in the midst of a struggle for rare metals. We are talking about dozens of elements from the periodic (Mendeleev) table, which are the basis of global technological progress. Economic Pravda devotes extensive material to the extraction of metals, rare earth elements and how they can be a guarantor of security for Ukraine.
The ambitions of the great powers are growing faster than the deposits are being developed. The United States is striving to become a leader in artificial intelligence and semiconductors, the EU is striving to green the energy sector and switch to electric vehicles, and China wants to gain technological independence in key industries and maintain its status as a world factory.
In their pursuit of raw materials, major powers are imposing tariffs on each other and looking for suppliers of rare metals that are scattered around the world. For years, Ukraine has been trying to join this struggle and become a source of valuable resources for its Western partners, who are trying to abandon Chinese raw materials.
Local metal deposits are a story of unrealized potential. Currently, the American president is interested in this resource, seeing in it an opportunity to “pay off” for American aid. On the other hand, Ukraine seeks to use raw materials to attract Western private investment and receive security guarantees.
Why does everyone need these metals
Technological progress is impossible without a number of metals. For example, lithium, cobalt and manganese are used to produce batteries, silicon and gallium – for semiconductors, titanium and aluminum are used to make aircraft fuselages, and rare earth metals are used in most household appliances.
However, the supply chains for these raw materials are unstable. Mining and processing of metals are scattered all over the world, including in quite unstable countries. For example, 70% of cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 20% of manganese in Gabon, and 15% of uranium in Namibia and Niger.
Another factor of instability is China, which once invested heavily in the extraction and processing of critical raw materials, acquired a monopoly position in the market, and now uses it for political purposes.
Beijing controls 70% of the world’s rare earth mining and a significant part of the processing of lithium, copper, cobalt and aluminum. Chinese companies control 75% of the nickel processing capacity in Indonesia, 80% of cobalt production in the DRC, about a third of global lithium production, invest in deposits in Australia and even monitor Greenland.
China uses its monopoly position as a weapon in trade wars with the US and the EU. In 2023 In 2018, Chinese authorities banned the export of rare earth metal processing technologies and restricted the export of graphite, and in 2024, they restricted the sale of antimony, gallium, germanium, and tightened control over processing enterprises.
In 2025, Beijing introduced controls on the export of tungsten, indium, bismuth, tellurium, and molybdenum. The country’s authorities plan to ban the export of lithium and gallium processing technologies. These restrictions threaten not only the economies of Western countries, but also their national security, since technological weapons are also made from these metals. Some alloys are produced only in China.
In recent years, the US and the EU have been trying to accumulate stocks of strategic raw materials and diversify supply channels in order to become less dependent on Beijing. However, finding non-Chinese sources of rare earth elements is not easy. Since 2018 Since then, the US has increased its share of global production of such raw materials from 9% to 12%. China’s share is still 68%, and in terms of processing it reaches 90%.
Strategic metals are actually not that rare. There are proven reserves in many countries. For example, Brazil and Vietnam have deposits of rare earth metals comparable to those of China, but they are mined in small quantities. Bolivia has one of the largest reserves of lithium in the world, but the country hardly exports it.
The problems begin at the stage of turning the metal source into a profitable business project. It is difficult for mining companies to create conditions for extraction, processing and logistics, as well as to find a common language with local regulatory authorities.
For an investor, a country must be politically predictable, secure, bureaucratically cleared, have infrastructure and be close to the sales market. If this is not the case, the investor will look for a more favorable jurisdiction.
For example, Greenland has large reserves of rare earth metals, but investors cannot build competitive deposits there due to the lack of roads and sea routes. The island authorities have even revoked the licenses of some companies, as they have not been able to start full-scale production.
Strategic raw materials are becoming less economic and more political, and metal prices are gradually rising. As a result, countries with an imperfect investment climate and infrastructure increase their chances of attracting large foreign investments to develop their own deposits.
Ukraine also wants to take advantage of the fierce demand and disputes between the great powers. It offers deposits that are in many respects the largest in Europe.
What Ukraine has
Ukraine offers the United States valuable mineral resources for the aerospace, military, electronics, nuclear and chemical industries. What mineral resources is the country rich in?
The State Geological and Mineral Resources Service presents the entire list of critical minerals of the country before the war in the Investment Atlas of Mineral Resources Users. American partners are primarily interested in rare earth metals.
Reserves of tantalum pentoxide, niobium and beryllium in Ukraine are accounted for in six complex deposits. Tantalum and niobium are mined in non-commercial volumes only as a concomitant component of titanium deposits. The prospects for the production of rare earth metals are largely associated with the development of the Novopoltava apatite deposit and several other ore deposits.
There is one beryllium deposit in Ukraine with reserves of 13.9 thousand tons and related elements. In 2019, BGV Group, a Ukrainian company owned by Gennady Butkevich, co-owner of ATB Corporation, and his partners, received a special permit for it.
Lithium
Currently, there is no lithium mining in Ukraine, although its reserves account for about a third of proven European reserves and almost 3% of total global reserves. There are three explored deposits and one preliminary exploration area, as well as several lithium ore deposits. All reserves are located in hard rocks.
Graphite
Ukraine is one of the five largest countries in the world in terms of graphite reserves with about 19 million tons. Currently, six deposits are known, one of which is being exploited commercially by the Australian company Volt Resources. BGV Group and the Turkish Onur Group are the operators of exploration activities in three deposits. The remaining deposits and more than ten promising discoveries are open for licensing.
Titanium
Ukraine is one of the ten countries with the largest proven reserves of titanium in the world and provides about 7% of global production. Currently, 28 deposits are registered in layers and local deposits. The main titanium-bearing minerals, ilmenite and rutile, are often found together with the associated mineral zircon.
In October 2024, FDM sold 100% of “United Mining and Chemical Company”, the largest Ukrainian company for the extraction and processing of titanium concentrate. The tender was won by Tsemin Ukraine, a company owned by Azerbaijani businessman Nasib Hasanov. The company includes the Vilnohirsk Ore Mining and Processing Plant in the Dnipropetrovsk region and the Irshansk GZK in the Zhytomyr region.
Another major player in the titanium industry is the private company Velta. Before the war, it mined about a third of the titanium in Ukraine and even mastered the production of finished products from its own titanium powder. Velta CEO Andriy Brodsky noted that the company is currently operating at 50-60% of its capacity due to energy and logistics problems.
Nickel, cobalt and copper
In Ukraine, there are 12 silicate-nickel deposits with reserves of cobalt (9 thousand tons) and nickel (215 thousand tons), which can be extracted as a by-product. The most promising cobalt deposits are Kapitanovskoye and Prutivskoye.
Uranium
Ukraine ranks first in Europe and eleventh in the world (about 2%) in terms of uranium ore deposits. The state balance of uranium reserves includes 21 deposits, four of which are in the process of development (45% of the country’s reserves), and the rest are offered for participation in SSA (production sharing agreement) tenders.
Only the company “SkhidGZK” mines and processes uranium ore. All proven reserves are concentrated in the Kirovograd, Dnepropetrovsk and Mykolaiv regions.
What are the prospects
Local companies do not have the capital to realize the potential of their deposits, so the government is trying to attract foreign investment. This interest in the industry led to a tenfold increase in global lithium prices in 2021-2022.
Two weeks before the war, the Ukrainian Business Council organized a roundtable discussion with geologists, politicians, and investors. They cited the lack of a state list of minerals eligible for concessions, an opaque licensing system, outdated classification and information about reserves, frequent changes in the rules of the game, and a poor reputation among Western investors as reasons for the industry’s failure.
According to Nathan Calvert, vice president of Privateer Capital Management, a company that wants to mine Ukrainian lithium, bureaucratic problems were more of a concern for investors than the threat of a Russian invasion.
Three years later, the topic of developing Ukraine’s strategic metal deposits has been raised at the highest level. The interest of American partners and statements by US President Donald Trump are a good signal for Ukraine.
“If since 1991 “We have heard such statements from the presidents of powerful countries, we would not have a war with Russia. Any foreign investment in our land and mineral resources is a guarantee of security. Investors will be interested in protecting Ukraine and their assets,” says Ksenia Orinchak, head of the National Association of Mining Industries.
“The solid interest from the US president and his team should give confidence and guarantee the arrival of investors. This shows that we are moving in the right direction,” agrees Roman Opimakh, former head of the State Service for Geology and Mineral Resources.
According to Mykhailo Honchar, president of the Center for Global Studies “Strategy XXI“, everything that is happening around rare earth metals in Ukraine is still a virtual project that needs to be studied in depth. “The available geological data dates back to the Soviet era, so first everything needs to be studied and then a conclusion can be drawn on the commercial attractiveness of the projects“, believes Gonchar.
What options for cooperation between Ukraine and partners could be considered? Volodymyr Boyko, founder of the Nadra.Info news agency, described several potential scenarios in a conversation with the EP.
First, the state will auction off special permits for the use of sites containing rare earth elements, “as is” – without further exploration, based on data from Soviet geological surveys. They will be purchased by the highest bidder. “This is an unlikely option if the decision to attract business from strategic partner countries is made at the political level”, Boyko commented.
The second option is for the government to announce tenders for, for example, 50-year contracts for joint use of the extraction of deposits “in their current form”.
The third option is for Ukraine to first invest in additional exploration and put up for tender blocks with reserves confirmed by international standards.
“The third option seems the most logical. It will improve the negotiating position of the state and communities in terms of our benefits from cooperation. We are talking about projects for at least several decades, so it is very important to include the most understandable, transparent and advantageous conditions for Ukraine in future agreements,” Boyko warns.
What kind of investment is this? The first stage of raw material production alone requires investments of over $100 million.
“The production of at least some intermediate product will cost $250-300 million. Over the past five years, we have been looking for a partnership that would provide the investments and necessary technologies. The partners who will come must have experience in the development, processing, enrichment and production of the final product. The United States definitely has the necessary investments and experience“, says Opimah.
The creation of the entire process will take at least four years. “This is a slow story. Not because Ukraine is doing something wrong, but because this is a complex process, the whole world is developing this way“, explains the former head of the State Service for Geology and Subsoil Resources.
In general, the prospects for this area are huge, but first the investment barriers must be overcome. One of them is cooperation with municipalities, says Orinchak.
“People still have a bad attitude towards the news that someone is going to mine something on their territory. We need to work from the communities to the highest political circles to understand how we are going to welcome these investors. At the local level, investors are perceived as evil. It doesn’t matter if it’s the US or the UK,” says the head of the association.
Other problems in the industry include the difficulties in confirming the reliability of data on mineral reserves and the need for exploratory drilling, the need to modernize equipment, frequent changes in the rules of the game, and gaps in the regulatory framework of the industry.
“So far, everything is at the level of slogans, but it is good that there are such statements. This can be a basis for further cooperation. The main thing is that everything does not remain at the level of talk, as often happens in Ukraine“, concludes Gonchar.
