Ukraine holds immense potential as a major global supplier of #CriticalRawMaterials essential for industries such as defence, high-tech, aerospace, and green energy.
My Op-Ed in World Economic Forum about UA potential to breach the supply chain gap
https://lnkd.in/erDXrmkc
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, along with China-US competition and other geopolitical risks, has highlighted the need for resilient and diversified supply chains.
The demand for critical raw materials is expected to surge, driven by the transition to electric vehicles and green energy.
Ukraine’s diverse geological zones make it a top 10 global supplier of mineral resources, holding around 5% of the world’s total. The east European nation has approximately 20,000 mineral deposits covering 116 types. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, 3,055 of these deposits (15%) were active, including 147 metallic and 4,676 of non-metallic mineral deposits.
Ukraine is a key potential supplier of rare earth metals, including titanium, lithium, beryllium, manganese, gallium, uranium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite, and nickel. Despite the war, Ukraine holds the largest titanium reservesin Europe (7% of the world’s reserves). It is one of the few countries that mine titanium ores, crucial for the aerospace, medical, automotive and marine industries.
Before February 2022, Ukraine was a key titanium supplier for the military sector. It also has one of Europe’s largest confirmed lithium reserves (estimated at 500,000 tons), vital for batteries, ceramics, and glass. Ukraine is the world’s 5th largest gallium producer, essential for semiconductors and LEDs, and has been a major producer of neon gas, supplying 90% of the highly purified, semiconductor-grade neon for the US chip industry.
Ukraine boasts confirmed deposits of beryllium, which is crucial for nuclear power, aerospace, military, acoustic and electronic industries, as well as uranium, which is essential for nuclear and military sectors. Zirconium and apatite are vital for nuclear and medical production. The country is also known for its substantial, high-quality iron ore and manganese reserves, which are crucial for green steel production. Ukraine supplied 43% of the EU’s steel plate imports in 2021.
Additionally, Ukraine holds significant reserves of nonferrous metals such as copper (4th in Europe), lead (5th), zinc (6th), and silver (9th). Nickel deposits (215 thousand tons) and cobalt (8.8 thousand tons) are found in the secure Kirovohrad and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Ukraine’s graphite reserves represent 20% of global resources. The country also ranks among the top 10 globally for minerals, including bromine, magnesium metal, manganese, peat, pig iron and kaolin, among others.
These #elements are crucial to the #energy transition. Fortunately, many of them aren’t actually that rare.
Read the new white paper from the World Economic Forum and McKinsey & Company, Securing Minerals for the Energy Transition: Unlocking the Value Chain through Policy, Investment and Innovation: https://ow.ly/e8o150Uf6Jf
#EnergyTransition #CriticalMinerals
