Western media houses keep guessing Ukraine’s unmapped mineral reserves

LAHORE: Having reportedly demanded a right to $500 billion in potential revenues from using Ukraine’s unmapped and untapped natural resources to compensate for US military aid and support Kyiv has received, US President Donald Trump recently said during a meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelensky that his country has paid more than $350 billion to the war-ravaged nation.

But due to Zelensky’s verbal clash with Trump and US Vice President JD Vance in front of television cameras, the much-anticipated minerals deal could not be signed.

Let us see what world’s leading media houses and think-tanks have to say about the vast reserves of critical and rare earth mineral deposits that Ukraine probably houses.”

The Doha-based “Al-Jazeera TV,” in its February 28, 2025 edition, states: “Ukraine holds deposits of 22 out of 34 minerals the EU classifies as critical, and many of these are in parts controlled by Russia. Ukraine also holds reserves of Rare Earth Elements (REEs), a group of 17 metallic minerals essential for high-tech applications in electronics, defence, aerospace and renewable energy, including lanthanum, cerium and neodymium.”

The Television channel adds: “According to the United Nations’ Russian-language news service, Ukraine’s critical mineral reserves made up approximately 5 percent of the global supply as of 2022. Its critical minerals include precious and non-ferrous metals, ferroalloys and minerals such as titanium, zirconium, graphite and lithium. Ukraine accounts for 7 percent of the global production of titanium. Its lithium reserves are largely untapped and considered one of Europe’s largest, at an estimated 500,000 tonnes.”

According to the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development, a public policy think tank registered in Belgrade and New York, Ukraine had registered 20,000 mineral deposits, with 8,700 of them proven, encompassing 117 of the 120 most globally used metals and minerals. This was prior to the 2022 Russian invasion.

The think-tank holds that Ukraine also has some of the world’s top recoverable coal, gas, iron, manganese, nickel, ore, titanium, and uranium reserves.

According to the US Geological Survey’s Mineral Commodity Summaries 2025, countries with the largest rare earth mineral reserves are:

China (44 million metric tonnes), Brazil (21 million metric tonnes), India (6.9 million metric tonnes), Australia (5.7 million metric tonnes), Russia (3.8 million metric tonnes), Vietnam (3.5 million metric tonnes), United States (1.9 million metric tonnes), Greenland (1.5 million metric tonnes), Tanzania (890,000 metric tonnes), South Africa (860,000 metric tonnes), Canada (830,000 metric tonnes) and Thailand (4,500 metric tonnes).

Quoting official Ukrainian government estimates, the “BBC News” states: “Kyiv estimates that about 5% of the world’s “critical raw materials” are in Ukraine. This includes some 19 million tonnes of proven reserves of graphite, which the Ukrainian Geological Survey state agency says makes the nation “one of the top five leading countries” for the supply of the mineral.

Graphite is used to make batteries for electric vehicles. Ukraine has 7% of Europe’s supplies of titanium, a lightweight metal used in the construction of everything from airplanes to power stations. According to Ukraine’s economy minister, resources worth $350 billion remain in occupied territories today.”

The “NBC News” has reported: “The quantity and value of Ukraine’s rare earth elements remain unclear, partly because up-to-date geological surveys need to be carried out. Mineral maps for Ukraine date to the Soviet era and are not fully reliable, experts say. Rare earths are in high demand because of their range of applications in the defense and technology sectors, including for lasers, missiles and tanks, as well as computers, televisions, smartphones and clean energy technologies.”

According to a 2023 study by “Forbes Ukraine,” the country’s rare earth and other critical minerals could be worth as much as $14.8 trillion. Ukraine’s government says the country’s minerals and other natural resources are worth “trillions of US dollars.”