Strategic assets or untapped potential? Why Ukraine’s treasure trove of rare earths remains untouched

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - A man walks through an underground passage past a kiosk selling magazines with covers depicting Russia's President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump in Warsaw on February 25, 2025. — AFP pic

PARIS, Feb 26 — Ukraine’s soils hold some five per cent of the world’s mineral resources, which US President Donald Trump is anxious to secure, but not all of them are yet exploited – or easily exploitable, according to experts.

Ukraine ranks 40th among mineral-producing countries, all categories combined (including coal), according to the 2024 edition of World Mining Data. It was the world’s 10th largest producer of iron in 2022.

Geologists, including at France’s Bureau of Geological and Mining Research (BRGM), found more than 100 resources, including iron, manganese and uranium, in a study of Ukraine published in 2023.

Critical minerals

Minerals can be described as critical or strategic by countries for their economy or energy production. The United States designates about 50 and the European Union more than 30.

“There are many deposits of interest in Ukraine,” BRGM told AFP.

The European Commission has said “Ukraine is a significant global supplier of titanium and is a potential source of over 20 critical raw materials.”

The country is a notable producer of manganese (the world’s eighth largest producer, according to World Mining Data), titanium (11th) and graphite (14th), which is essential for electric batteries.

Of the latter, Ukraine makes up “20 per cent of the world’s estimated resource,” BRGM noted. It’s also “one of Europe’s leading countries in terms of potential” for lithium – essential for batteries and considered critical.

Ukraine has also said it “possesses one of the largest lithium deposits in Europe”. However, the government added that the soft metal it is not yet extracted.

Rare earths not yet exploited

Rare earth elements (REE) are a very specific classification of 17 metals within the much wider category of critical minerals.

Ukraine is not known for its reserves of rare earths, which are essential for screens, drones, wind turbines, and electric motors. Trump has particularly declared he wants rare earths and demanded an accord on getting minerals in return for US aid for Ukraine to fight its war with Russia.

“Ukraine has several deposits containing rare earth elements” but none of these deposits have been mined, said Elena Safirova, a Ukraine specialist at the US Geological Survey.

BRGM confirmed Ukraine had significant rare earth resources, adding it was not aware of any plans for commercial production.

The Ukrainian government said that “rare earth metals are known to exist in six deposits”. It said investment of US$300 million would be needed to develop the Novopoltavske deposit, “which is one of the largest in the world”.

At least one site for rare earths identified by the government falls within a region occupied by Russia.

Technically, some of the elements cited by the Ukrainian government (tantalum, niobium, beryllium, strontium, magnetite) are not on the list of 17 rare earths.

And some of the Ukrainian government projections are based on “a Soviet-era assessment of difficult-to-access rare earths deposits,” rating agency S&P said in February.

Because the country’s rare earths may be too low in concentration or too difficult to access, “Ukraine’s deposits of rare earth elements might not be profitable to extract”, S&P said. — AFP