Critical Minerals and Energy Intelligence. Stay Ahead.

US Treasury Secretary in Ukraine to discuss critical minerals deal

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Scott Bessent, the US Treasury Secretary, is the first cabinet-level official to visit Ukraine to hold talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss a potential ceasefire — and a potential critical minerals deal.

President Trump has stated he wants an end to the Russia-Ukraine war, but has not committed to any military guarantees. However, he has called for a deal over critical minerals — in particular, rare earths — worth US$500 billion.

“They have tremendously wealthy land, in terms of rare earths, in terms of oil and gas, in terms of other things. I want to have our money secured because we’re spending hundreds of billions of dollars… and, I say, I want it back,” President Donald Trump said on an interview with Fox News. “I want the equivalent of US$500 billion of rare earths and they’ve essentially agreed to do that.”

Ukrainian President Zelensky, in an interview with Reuters, has discussed a mineral deal but said they are not “giving them away”

A recent NATO report on Ukraines minerals stated “The strategic importance of Ukraine’s critical materials cannot be overstated.”

Ukraine is a top 10 global supplier of mineral resources, and holds approx 5% of the world’s total, including the largest titanium reserves in Europe (7% of the world’s reserves), Europe’s largest reserves of lithium, as well as significant reserves of beryllium, manganese, gallium, zirconium, graphite, apatite, fluorite and nickel.

The challenge is that Ukraine has no significant commercial operational rare earth mines or processing facilities — and it could take years, even decades, to develop them.

Significant regions of Ukraine’s coal and metal rich deposits are also occupied by Russia in the east. SecDev, a Canadian geopolitical risk firm, reports at least $12.4 trillion worth of Ukraine’s energy deposits, metals and minerals were seized by Russia by 2022. More recently, estimates by Ukrainian think-tanks We Build Ukraine and the National Institute of Strategic Studies, report about 40% of Ukraine’s metal resources are now under Russian occupation.

Ukraines major resources map as of 2022 - The Oregon Group - Critical Minerals and Energy Intelligence

We are skeptical that any deal between the US and Ukraine over critical minerals will yield fast results, especially if there is not security guarantee. However, it is important to note that Trump sent his Treasury Secretary to a country at war before military or defence officials.

“I do believe it is important for us to mine, accumulate and move to domestic production for rare earths and other vital minerals” — Scott Bessent, at Senate Hearing.

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