The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News - January 22, 2025
In July 2021, Ukraine and the European Union (EU) signed a Memorandum on Strategic Partnership in Raw Materials. Such agreements were also signed with Canada that year and with Kazakhstan and Namibia in 2022, with many more to follow as Western democracies have been investing in renewable energy and sustainable infrastructure, fighting to roll back critical mineral dependency on high-risk imports and dictatorships like Russia and China.
Negotiations regarding a new coalition of allies to source materials and clean energy technologies have included Ukraine's significant natural resources, comprised of coal, iron ore, lithium, natural gas, titanium, and rare earths. Despite having no deposits currently under development, Ukraine has the potential to become a significant player in the European lithium market.
Investors lined up, and global interest in Ukraine's promising mineral economy grew. Then Russia invaded.
Russian troops have proceeded to capture key locations rich in Ukrainian lithium, starting with the southeastern region of Zaporizhzhia in 2022, early on in the incursion, followed by this month's seizure of Shevchenko, a rural village in Donetsk that sits atop one of Ukraine's largest lithium deposits. This leaves only two remaining sources of note within the country that are not yet under Russian control.
Discovered in 1982, the roughly 40-hectare (100 acres) Shevchenko deposit hosts an estimated reserve of 13.8 million metric tons with an average lithium oxide content of 1.24%.
Lithium is a critical mineral key to the European green energy transition, reducing its use of fossil fuels. Like the United States, the EU aims to secure domestic lithium supplies and reduce reliance on foreign sources such as Russia and China, and Moscow's seizure of such lithium-rich territories impacts the whole of Europe's access to one of its largest reserves of the critical mineral, according to geological surveys.
Much of Ukraine's lithium remains at the resource estimation stage, requiring further exploration and development to become economically viable.
Losing lithium to Russia's ever-expanding reach threatens to disrupt European progress toward critical mineral autonomy while depriving Kyiv of a key economic resource and stalling the entire continent's progress toward developing its own electric vehicle industry and renewable energy economy.
This unpredictable wartime environment also deters strategic foreign investment, forestalling Ukraine's integration into Europe's greater critical mineral supply chain. Before the invasion, Ukraine's lithium reserves – ranking fifth in Europe – attracted eager investor attention from the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Asia.
Ukraine's four prospective lithium deposits are in Polokhivske, the Dobra site, Shevchenkivskyi and Kruta Balka.
At this writing, the two key sites under Russian control are the Shevchenko Lithium Ore Field in Donetsk People's Republic, with estimated reserves of 13.8 million tons of ore valued at nearly $1.5 billion, and Krutaya Balka in the Zaporizhzhia region, whose site is considered viable for open-pit mining, but reserves remain unspecified.
"This may not be the main reason for the invasion, but undoubtedly Ukraine's mineral wealth is one of the reasons why this country is so important to Russia," said Rod Schoonover, former director of the Environment and Natural Resources Section of the U.S. National Intelligence Council and founder of Ecological Futures Group. "The Russian invasion has disrupted any progress toward leveraging Ukraine's reserves, but if stability is restored, these resources could become, in time, a cornerstone of Europe's strategic autonomy in critical minerals."
Moscow, with its own significant reserves, including 75 million tons of lithium ore at the Kolmozerskoe deposit, still remains dependent on imports to keep up with growing demand. Ukraine's overall mineral wealth could still gain its invaders' leverage in the global market. Its lithium is concentrated in regions like the Ukrainian Shield, a massive rocky plate spanning much of central and southern Ukraine that is rich in iron, rare earths, and other minerals.
In an interview with Ukrainian news agency Interfax-Ukraine, Executive Director of the National Association of Extractive Industries Ksenia Orynchak said, "Ukraine's potential for lithium extraction is undeniable. Based on reputable studies, our country is in the top three for lithium reserves, alongside Czechia and Serbia. Additionally, Ukraine's geographic proximity to the EU offers a significant strategic advantage."
Ukraine has only begun to scratch the surface of its own geological bounty, holding other valued ores of interest to investors, including approximately 250 million tons of graphite ore, over 20 million tons of lead-zinc ore, germanium valued at $100 billion, and $30 billion worth of uranium deposits with an impressive 270,000 tons in reserve.
Ukraine is also a global leader in manganese ore deposits, ranking first in Europe and second worldwide in its explored reserve volume, with 2.2 billion tons of proven reserves currently valued at over $10 billion. The deposits are located in central and south Ukraine, as well as in Russian-occupied Crimea.
Ukraine's untapped mineral wealth is an undeniable critical strategic factor.
"In the Ukrainian subsoil, there are 21 elements out of 30 identified by Europe as critical raw materials – lithium, graphite, cobalt, titanium, etc," Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told delegates at the seventh German-Ukrainian Business Forum in December.
The total value of these mineral reserves has been estimated to be $11.5 trillion-adding gas to the lineup, and Ukraine's raw materials valuation skyrockets to approximately $26 billion.
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