Rare earth minerals are essential for modern technology, from defense systems to renewable energy. As global competition intensifies, securing access to these resources has become a strategic priority for many nations, including the United States.
Ukraine’s Untapped Mineral Wealth
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has pushed for a deal granting the U.S. preferential access to Ukraine’s vast mineral reserves.
As reported by Digi24, Ukraine is estimated to hold 5% of the world’s critical raw materials, including graphite, lithium, titanium, and rare earth elements.
These minerals are vital for producing batteries, radar systems, and military-grade armor. A proposed agreement would direct 50% of Ukraine’s mineral revenues into an investment fund while providing no security guarantees from the U.S.
However, experts warn that these estimates rely on outdated Soviet-era surveys that do not account for the feasibility or cost of extraction.
Economic and Geopolitical Risks
While Ukraine boasts over 20,000 mineral deposits, only 8,000 have been assessed as viable, and even fewer were actively mined before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.
Extracting these resources would require massive investments—estimated at $15 billion for infrastructure alone—along with costly demining and reconstruction efforts.
Moreover, China dominates the global supply chain for processing rare earth elements, refining nearly 90% of the world’s output.
Even if Ukraine’s resources were developed, the U.S. lacks the necessary infrastructure to refine them independently, potentially making American investments less efficient than relying on existing Chinese facilities.
Russian-Controlled Territories Pose Another Challenge
Another major hurdle is that some of Ukraine’s richest mineral deposits lie in Russian-occupied territories. The Azovske and Mazurivske deposits in Donetsk and the Novopoltavske site in Zaporizhzhia—one of Ukraine’s largest rare earth reserves—are either under Russian control or directly threatened by ongoing fighting.
For Trump, this deal could be a game-changing economic move—or a financial miscalculation, leaving U.S. investors entangled in an uncertain and high-risk venture.
