Ukraine is rich in natural resources that are of strategic importance for the modern technological world. While global powers compete for access to rare elements necessary for the development of advanced technologies, Ukraine seeks to occupy its niche as a promising supplier.
Against the backdrop of geopolitical rivalry, the US is actively trying to dominate the field of artificial intelligence development and semiconductor production. The European Union is focusing on «green» energy and electric vehicles, while China is trying to maintain its technological leadership and avoid dependence on Western resources. Reserves of rare elements are scattered all over the world, and major powers are looking for an alternative to Chinese raw materials. Ukraine, having significant potential in this field, has long sought to become a reliable partner for the West.
Resources for help: «bartering» in the style of Trump
Donald Trump, who has always been famous for his directness and «business» approach in politics, has his own vision of Ukrainian resources. He sees them as a possible way to compensate for military aid. At the moment, it seems that Trump is ready to use our bowels as a trump card in the geopolitical game, not particularly concerned with how this will affect the economic and security interests of Ukraine itself.
According to the data New York Post, Trump said that the US should have access to the natural resources of Ukraine, regardless of the possibility of a peace agreement with Russia. He emphasized that more than $300 billion in American aid exceeds the contributions of other countries, and demanded compensation from Ukraine in the form of rare earth elements in the amount of $500 billion. President Zelensky agreed to the proposal where Ukraine’s resources would go in exchange for Western security guarantees, stressing that Ukraine is ready to make any agreements to protect strategic assets, in particular in the Dnipro region.
What exactly does Trump want?
In various media, we can find different interpretations of Trump’s whims, which suggests that the American president himself does not exactly understand what Ukrainian resources he has his eye on. Given the needs of technological progress, in which the United States strives to hold the palm of supremacy, Americans need rare earth elements. This name is used by most journalists. At the same time, geologists insist that the correct name is «rare» or «scattered elements». «Rare elements are found in small concentrations, but they are capable of forming deposits. In contrast, diffuse elements may be widely distributed but rarely form deposits. They are usually present as impurities in other minerals, and these trace impurities can often be much more valuable than the parent element. Probably, it was these valuable impurities that attracted the attention of the Americans», — such comment Doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences, professor of Kharkiv National University named after IN. N. Karazina Vasyl Suyarko.
17 elements with unique properties
In total, it is a group of 17 chemical elements that are crucial for digital technologies and the transition to renewable energy. Despite the name, these elements are not at all rare in the earth’s crust. The problem is that they are difficult to mine and process.
Rare and scattered elements have unique magnetic, optical and electronic properties, so they are used in numerous modern technologies:
- wind turbines and solar panels,
- electric cars,
- LED and LCD screens,
- hard drives and fiber optic cables,
- catalysts and steel alloys,
- hydrogen technologies and electric motors.
These elements are also of strategic importance for the defense and aerospace industries: they are used in the production of aircraft, missiles, satellites and communication systems.
In 2023, the European Commission highlighted the critical need for rare elements to develop a «green» economy and strengthen defense capabilities. For its part, the International Energy Agency predicts that in order to achieve Net Zero goals by 2030, the extraction of rare earth elements (REEs) must increase 10-fold. Extraction of rare elements does not stand still. There are data that between 2017 and 2020, its volumes increased by more than 85%, mainly due to the demand for permanent magnets for wind farms and electric cars.
How is the production of rare elements distributed among different countries?
Not all information about stocks of rare elements is publicly available. Moreover, it varies depending on the calculation methodology. It is accepted to operate with the data of the US Geological Survey. In accordance with them, in 2022 China was responsible for 70% (210,000 metric tons) of global rare earth production, followed by the United States (14.3%), Australia (6%), Myanmar (4%), Thailand (2.4%), Vietnam (1.4%), India (0.96%), Russia (0.86%), Madagascar (0.32%), and Brazil. Reserves of rare elements are documented in more than 34 countries. In the presented infographic, Ukraine does not appear at all, since the mining of these elements is not carried out at a commercial level.
Infographic: IA «FACT»
Our country has significant deposits of rare elements, especially within the Ukrainian shield — in the Kirovohrad, Zhytomyr and Dnipropetrovsk regions. However, it is impossible to talk about the level of actual production of such elements, since it is not available on an industrial scale.
What are the reasons for this «resource-mining gap»?
Let’s name the main ones:
- Lack of sufficient investment in geological exploration and mining.
- Technological barriers – the processing of rare earth ores is complex and requires modern technologies.
- Regulatory and environmental restrictions that make it difficult to launch new projects.
- Competition from China, which dominates the market for rare elements, ensuring their extraction and processing at low cost.
Ukraine has the potential to change the situation, especially given the growing demand for rare earth elements in the world and the strategic importance of these metals for defense, electronics and «green» energy. But this requires serious government programs, attracting investors and technological modernization.
A strategically important resource for the United States
After World War II, the United States of America realized the strategic importance of rare elements for national security, the defense industry, and high-tech manufacturing. In 1979, amid growing demand for these resources and the risks of dependence on foreign suppliers, the United States passed legislation requiring the country to maintain a strategic stockpile of rare elements sufficient to meet domestic needs for at least three years.
This decision was prompted by a series of global events, including the oil crises of 1973 and 1979, which demonstrated the vulnerability of the US to disruptions in the supply of critical resources. At the time, the United States was the leader in the mining of rare elements, thanks to the Mountain Pass mine in California, which provided a large part of the world’s production of rare elements. However, the government sought to create reserves to ensure uninterrupted supplies of materials for the military, aerospace, electronics and other high-tech sectors.
The law provided for the formation of stocks of rare elements within the framework of the National Strategic Reserve, and also determined the mechanisms for their renewal and use in the event of a threat to the country’s economic or defense stability. In the following decades, the US continued to increase its own production and control strategic reserves, but the situation began to change at the end of the 20th century.
In the 1990s, after the reduction of the cost of extraction of rare earth elements in China and Beijing’s aggressive policy of dominance in this field, the US gradually lost its position. Mining at Mountain Pass was curtailed in 2002 due to economic unprofitability and environmental concerns, and US dependence on REE imports, particularly from China, has increased dramatically.
In the 21st century, the strategic importance of rare elements has become even more evident due to their critical role in the production of electric vehicles, renewable energy and military technology. Against this background, the United States has renewed its policy of building strategic reserves and developing its own mining and processing infrastructure in an effort to reduce dependence on the Chinese market.
American rare element usage chart
Infographic: IA «FACT»
Rare earth elements in the US are used in a variety of industries, including catalysts, metallurgy, optics, electronics, and clean energy. The largest share, 62%, is accounted for by catalysts used for cleaning industrial emissions, the operation of catalytic converters in transport and oil refining, in particular in the production of gasoline, diesel and aviation fuel.
About 13% of rare elements are used in metallurgy, where they serve as additives to steel, and are also part of components for computers and hybrid cars.
Another 9% is used in the processing of glass and ceramics — it is necessary for the production of optical glass, high-precision optics, as well as safety glasses.
The production of magnets used in satellite electronics and other high-tech fields accounts for 7% of resources.
About 3% of rare elements are used to create phosphors, which ensure the operation of displays, lamps, and are also used in clean energy and radiation monitoring systems.
Another 6% is used in other industries, including wastewater treatment, which is important for environmental safety and sustainable development.
As such, rare elements are critical to modern industry, including high-tech manufacturing, environmental initiatives, and US national security.
