What are the rare earths of Ukraine and why does Trump want them?

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President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told Reuters he is ready to sign a contract with US President Donald Trump, including US involvement in the development of huge sediments of Ukraine’s rare earths and other important minerals.

On February 3, Trump said he wanted Ukraine to supply the US with rare earths in return for financial support in Kiev’s war efforts against Russia. Zelenskiy aired the idea with his “winning plan” strategy presented to Kyiv’s allies, including Trump last fall.

Among other things, the plan proposes reaching agreements with foreign partners to provide joint access to Ukraine’s strategically valuable resources.

It was not immediately clear whether Trump was referring to all sorts of important minerals or rare earths. He said the US had contracted with Ukraine for “their rare earth and other things.”

Rare Earth is a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that power electric vehicles, cell phones, missile systems, and other electronic devices. There are no viable alternatives.

China, where Trump threatened a trade war, is the world’s largest producer of rare earths and many other important minerals.

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A US geological survey considers 50 minerals to be important, including several types of rare earths, nickel and lithium.

According to data from the Ministry of Economy, Ukraine has 22 deposits of 34 minerals identified as important by the European Union. This includes industrial and construction materials, ferroloys, precious and nonferrous metals, and several rare earth elements. Ukraine also has substantial reserves of coal. However, most of these are currently under Russian control in the occupied territory.

What are the rare earths of Ukraine?

Ukraine, known as a European bread basket, also boasts a huge amount of mineral resources.

Some of these are essential for industries such as defense, high-tech appliances, aerospace, and green energy.

According to the Geological Institute, Ukraine has rare earth elements such as lanthanum and cerium, which are used in television and lighting. Neodymium used in wind turbines and EV batteries. Erbium and Itrium. Its applications range from nuclear power to lasers. EU-funded research also shows that Ukraine has scandium reserves. Detailed data is categorized.

In an interview Friday, Zelensky said Russia had occupied about half of Ukraine’s rare earth deposits.

Mining analysts and economists say Ukraine does not have commercial operational rare earth mines. Zelenskiy also said Ukraine has Europe’s largest titanium and uranium reserves.

According to the World Economic Forum, Ukraine is also a major potential supplier of lithium, beryllium, manganese, gallium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite and nickel.

The provincial Geological Services said Ukraine has one of Europe’s largest confirmed reserves, estimated at 500,000 metric tons of lithium, essential for batteries, ceramics and glass. Titanium reserves are primarily located in the northwest and central Ukraine, while lithium is located in the central, east and southeast.

Ukraine’s graphite reserves, an important component of electric vehicle batteries and nuclear reactors, account for 20% of the world’s resources. The deposits are located in the center and west.

The war has caused extensive damage to Ukraine and Russia as a whole, and now controls a fifth of its territory. Most of Ukrainian coal deposits, which had the steel industry before the war, are concentrated and lost to the east.

Estimates by Ukrainian think tanks show that around 40% of Ukraine’s metal resources are currently under Russian occupation, and the National Institute of Strategic Studies in Ukraine is constructed, citing data until the first half of 2024. They did not provide detailed breakdowns.

Since then, Russian troops have continued to make steady progress in the eastern Donetsk region. In January, Ukraine closed its only caulking coal mine outside Pokrovsk city.

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Russia occupied at least two Ukrainian lithium deposits during the war. One is in Donetsk and the other is in the Zaporidia region in the southeast. Kiev still controls lithium deposits in the central Cairovolad region.

Oleksiy Sobolev, the first deputy economic minister, said in January that the government is working on deals with Western allies, including the US, UK, France and Italy, on projects related to the use of key materials. . The government estimates the sector’s total investment potential by 2033 to approximately $1.2-15 billion.

The state’s geological services said it has prepared about 100 sites that will be jointly licensed and developed by the government, but has not provided further details.

Ukraine is highly qualified, has a relatively inexpensive labor and has developed infrastructure, but investors highlight many barriers to investment. These include inefficient and complex regulatory processes that make access to geological data and land parcels difficult.

Such projects will take years to develop, they said.