The following is an overview of the critical minerals, including rare earths, and other natural resources in Ukraine that could be of interest to the US and other partners, according to various reports and Reuters.
Rare earths are a group of 17 metals used to make magnets that turn power into motion for electric vehicles, cell phones, missile systems, and other electronics. There are no viable substitutes.
The US Geological Survey considers 50 minerals to be critical, including rare earths such as nickel and lithium. Critical minerals are essential for industries such as defence, high-tech appliances, aerospace and green energy.
China is the world’s largest producer of rare earths and many other critical minerals. Trump has said he wants Ukraine to supply the United States with rare earth minerals as a form of payment for financially supporting the country’s war efforts against Russia.
Ukraine has deposits of 22 of the 34 minerals identified by the European Union as critical, according to Ukrainian data. They include industrial and construction materials, ferro alloy, precious and non-ferrous metals, and some rare earth elements.
According to Ukraine’s Institute of Geology, the country possesses rare earths such as lanthanum and cerium, used in TVs and lighting; neodymium, used in wind turbines and EV batteries and erbium and yttrium, whose applications range from nuclear power to lasers. EU-funded research also indicates that Ukraine has scandium reserves.
The World Economic Forum has said Ukraine is also a key potential supplier of lithium, beryllium, manganese, gallium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite and nickel. The State Geological Service said Ukraine has one of Europe’s largest confirmed reserves, estimated at 500 000 metric tons, of lithium – vital for batteries, ceramics, and glass.
The country has titanium reserves, mostly located in its north-western and central regions, while lithium is found in the centre, east and southeast. Ukraine’s reserves of graphite, a key component in electric vehicle batteries and nuclear reactors, represent 20% of global resources. The deposits are in the centre and west.
Ukraine also has significant coal reserves, though most are now under the control of Russia in occupied territory. The bulk of Ukraine’s coal deposits, which powered its steel industry before the war, are concentrated in the east and have been lost.
About 40% of Ukraine’s metal resources are now under Russian occupation, according to estimates by Ukrainian think-tanks We Build Ukraine and the National Institute of Strategic Studies, citing data up to the first half of 2024. They provided no detailed breakdown.
Since then, Russian troops have continued to advance steadily in the eastern Donetsk region. In January, Ukraine closed its only coking coal mine outside the city of Pokrovsk, which Moscow’s forces are trying to capture.
Russia has occupied at least two Ukrainian lithium deposits during the war – one in Donetsk and another in the Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast. Kyiv still controls lithium deposits in the central Kyrovohrad region.
