Geological Service expects to invest $10 billion in mining of key strategic minerals in Ukraine

The State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine and the Investment Promotion Office of Ukraine expect that about $10 billion will be invested in the development of key and strategic minerals, especially lithium, titanium, uranium, nickel, cobalt, niobium and other minerals.

The plans were announced at a press conference "Minerals of the Future" held on Tuesday by Roman Opimach, head of the State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine, and Serhiy Tsivkach, executive director of Invest Ukraine, during a presentation of Ukraine's investment potential.

At the press conference, 30 investment targets - regions with non-ferrous metals, rare earth metals and other minerals - were presented.

According to the speaker, the existing resources and prospects of future mineral development will allow Ukraine to develop new modern industries. At the same time, the State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources intends to attract investors to develop such minerals through public auctions of items. The Ukrainian Investment Company (ukraininvest), which works to attract foreign investments to the Ukrainian economy, will include these lots in the Investment Guide of Ukraine and provide the necessary support at all stages of attracting investors.

In his presentation, Opimach said, "We estimate that their full development will attract more than $10 billion in investments to Ukraine."

The first category is represented by regions with lithium deposits. Ukraine has one of the largest proven reserves and projected lithium resources in Europe. Lithium is used to make batteries for cell phones, computers and electric cars, as well as special glass and ceramics.

There are 2 proven deposits and 2 proven lithium zones, as well as some ores where lithium mineralization has occurred. No lithium is mined in Ukraine. One site is licensed and only three sites are available for auction. In addition, two sites have a judicial burden.

Titanium will also be auctioned. Ukraine is one of the top ten countries in the world in terms of proven titanium reserves, with more than 6% of the world's total titanium production. Twenty-seven deposits and more than 30 deposits of varying degrees of exploration have been recorded. Only alluvial sands are now under development, accounting for about 10% of all explored reserves. Seven land parcels are planned to be auctioned.

Non-ferrous metals are available in large quantities in the form of nickel, cobalt, chromium, copper and molybdenum. Ukraine possesses large deposits of non-ferrous metals and imports them in large quantities to meet its own needs. The explored deposits and ores are complexly distributed and mainly concentrated in the Ukrainian land shield. At the same time, the mining reserves are:215 thousand tons of nickel, 8,800 tons of cobalt, 453 thousand tons of chromium oxide, 312 thousand tons of expected chromium oxide and 95 thousand tons of copper.

"We are offering six items, one of which will be auctioned on March 12, 2021," said the director of the National Geology and Mineral Resources Agency.

Rare earths and rare metals - tantalum, niobium, beryllium, zirconium, scandium - will also be auctioned. Rare and rare earth metals are found in complex deposits and ores within the Ukrainian Geoshield. Zirconium and scandium are heavily concentrated in alluvial and primary deposits, which are not mined. Reserves of tantalum oxide (Ta2O5), niobium and beryllium have six deposits, two of which are being mined. One of these areas is scheduled to be auctioned on February 15, and a total of three areas will be auctioned.

Regarding gold deposits, seven deposits have been recorded, five licenses have been issued, and mining work is still underway at the Muzhiavsk deposit. One of the areas was sold at the auction in December 2020, and the other three are planned to be auctioned.

New fossil fuel production areas will also be auctioned (one of the auctions will be held on April 21, 2021, and the other two are under preparation). The investment map includes two areas containing uranium ore, but no reserves were specified.

Opimach said these mineral extraction projects will be implemented for at least five years because they are long-term projects: "These are capital-intensive projects with a long implementation cycle."