The Ukrainians are learning the nature of the Trump administration’s deal as the US president unveiled some of the “critical” (pun) of his plan to end the three-year-old conflict.
According to media reports, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent said he met with Ukrainian President Zelensky on February 12th. The two discussed the mineral trade between Kiev and Washington, which provides Ukraine with a postwar “security shield.”
At risk is $500 billion in rare earth minerals Trump hopes before offering security guarantees from Washington.
Bescent said the mineral trade is part of “a massive peace deal Trump has in mind.” Zelensky told reporters on Wednesday that the US had presented Ukraine the first draft agreement that it hoped could seal the deal at the Munich Security Conference on February 14-16.
“There was a productive and constructive conversation. For me, the issue of security assurance in Ukraine was very important and we talked about minerals in general,” Zelensky said. Via Reuters.
Trump has said he wants to quickly end the war between Ukraine and Russia, but has not stated whether he will continue to provide important military aid to Ukraine, the cornerstone of President Biden’s foreign policy.
According to Radio Free Europe/ Radio LibertyTrump spoke directly with Russian President Putin for over an hour on February 12th and agreed to commence peace talks.
According to a geological survey in Ukraine, Ukraine has identified 23 of the 50 strategic materials identified by the US as critical, and 26 of 34 are recognized as extremely important by the EU. In particular, Ukraine holds a competitive position in titanium, graphite, lithium, beryllium and rare earth elements.
Currently, 30 licenses have been issued for the development of this mineral group. The Ukrainian government holds more than 30 licensed deposits and around 400 promising events. It also manages several important industrial assets that can produce titanium, aluminum, silicon, germanium and gallium.
Titanium and beryllium are used in aerospace and defense, and Ukraine holds the largest titanium reserves in Europe.
The country has lithium and graphite reserves used in lithium-ion batteries, which are needed for many applications such as electric vehicles and renewable energy storage. Graphite is used at the anode of a battery.
However, currently, no lithium is mined in Ukraine, and there are two of four potential locations in Russian territory.
Ukrainian can It is reportedly The Battery Factory supplies natural graphite concentrates with six known deposits. One of them is operated by Australian Headquartered Bolt Resources. The license was issued for three more graphite deposits in 2019 and 2021.
Extraction of tantalum, niobium and rare earth elements is centered on novoportavalate and Azov REE deposits. Both are located in occupied territories.
There is currently only one California Mountain Pass in the US owned by MP Materials. Australia-based Lynas is building a rare earth processing facility in Sea Drift, Texas. In 2023, NASDAQ-listed coal miner RomacoResources announced that initial development work on the Brookrea Earth mine in Wyoming will begin in the fourth quarter.
Along with most of the rare earth oxides, the mine may contain meaningful amounts of gallium and germanium. Mining said every week – Widely used in semiconductor and defense systems. China controlled both supply, introducing new export controls in July 2023, and then banned exports to the US in December 2024.
China also manages more than 85% of the world’s rare earth processing capacity and mines most mineral mines. According to US Geological SurveyChina has 44 million tonnes of reserves, more than twice Brazil’s closest competitor, comparing it to the US’s 1.9 million tonnes.
Between 2020 and 2023, the US imported 70% of rare earth metals and compounds from China.
By Andrew Topf on oflice.com
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