When Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Thursday that he “cannot sell out” his country, rejecting US President Donald Trump’s offer to provide access to the country’s $500 billion in mineral reserves, many began to question what valuable minerals Ukraine has that Trump is interested in.
It should be noted that Ukraine has vast reserves of rare underground minerals, but many of these reserves are located in areas currently occupied by the Russian military. Trump suggested that if Ukraine wanted to maintain US support against Russia, it should hand over these reserves to the US. However, in response to this proposal, President Zelensky said, “This is not a serious conversation, I cannot sell my country.”
However, Trump’s proposal made it clear that Ukraine’s mineral reserves are important to the United States. But what are these minerals, and why does the United States want to get them?
‘Rare Earth Minerals’: What are Rare Underground Minerals?
Rare earth minerals, also known as ‘rare earths’, are 17 minerals with similar chemical properties that are widely used in modern technology. Ukraine has vast reserves of rare underground minerals, but many of these deposits are located in areas currently occupied by the Russian military.
These minerals are used in the manufacture of smartphones, computers, medical equipment, and many other items. They include scandium, yttrium, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, neodymium, promethium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium, thulium, ytterbium, and lutetium.
They are called rare because it is considered very unusual to find them in their pure state, but there are deposits of them all over the world. But this rare mineral is often present with radioactive elements such as thorium and uranium, and many toxic components have to be used to separate them, making the process of extracting them complex and expensive.
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What Rare Minerals are Found in Ukraine?
Of the 30 elements defined by the European Union as ‘critical materials’, 21 are found in Ukraine, and the country holds five percent of the world’s rare earth mineral reserves. Most of the areas where these deposits exist are in the Sea of Azov, south of the so-called ‘Crystalline Shield’ of Ukraine, and most of the area is occupied by Russia.
However, there are also deposits in the Kiev, Middle Buzau, Vinnytsia and Zhytomyr regions, and experts say that hundreds of items have been identified, but only a few of them will be economically viable to extract.
Adam Webb, head of battery-related minerals at Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, says: “The estimates or projections that have been made so far are just estimates.”
According to him, a lot of work is needed to turn these mineral deposits into economic resources. According to Forbes Ukraine, 70 percent of other important minerals are located in the Donetsk, Luhansk and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and most of these areas are under Russian influence.
According to the Ukrainian government, the country has 450,000 tons of lithium reserves. Russia also occupies two lithium deposits.
Why does Trump Want to Acquire these Minerals?
A major reason for the United States’ desire to access these minerals is competition with China, which is a major player in the supply and distribution of such rare minerals in the world.
Over the past decades, China has become a global leader in the extraction and processing of rare earth minerals, and not only does it account for 60 to 70 percent of production, but it also accounts for 90 percent of processing. And it is this dependence on China that is troubling the United States. After all, these minerals are essential for modern technology, ranging from electric vehicles to weapons.
Trump has signaled a move away from Biden’s policies and back toward conventional fuels, but he also wants to acquire key minerals that are also important for energy projects. These same minerals are essential for electronics, military needs, and the production of artificial intelligence (AI) data centers.
Trump is trying to expand artificial intelligence infrastructure, but it will require vast quantities of these minerals, especially copper, silicon, palladium, and rare earth minerals. And the supply of these minerals is a problem as they are now being used more and more. Experts believe that China’s control over these minerals is the main reason for the tension between the United States and China.
China owns 100 percent of the world’s natural graphite and dispersium, 70 percent of cobalt, and 60 percent of lithium and manganese. China owns major mines of these minerals in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The US House of Representatives Armed Services Committee said during the tenure of former President Joe Biden that “to counter China’s influence, it is essential that the United States obtain important and strategic minerals itself.”
It seems that this is why the Trump administration has its eyes on places like Ukraine and Greenland.