The State Service for Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine and the Office of Investment Promotion of Ukraine expect about $10 billion to be invested in the development of key and strategic minerals, especially lithium, titanium, uranium, nickel, cobalt, niobium and other minerals.
The plan was announced by the head of Ukraine's State Geological and Mineral Resources Agency, Roman Opimak, and the executive director of the Ukraine Investment Corporation, Serhiy Tsivkach, during a presentation on Ukraine's investment potential at a "Future Minerals" press conference on Tuesday.
At the press conference, 30 investment targets were proposed - areas with non-ferrous metals, rare earth metals and other minerals.
According to the speaker, the existing resources and the prospect of future mineral exploitation would enable Ukraine to develop new modern industries.
At the same time, the National Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources plans to use public auctions to attract investors to develop such minerals.
UkraineInvest, which is committed to attracting foreign investment into the Ukrainian economy, will include these sites in the Ukrainian Investment Guide and will provide the necessary support at all stages of attracting investors.
"We estimate that their full-scale development will attract more than $10 billion in investment into Ukraine," Opimak said in a presentation.
The first type is represented by areas with lithium deposits.
Ukraine has one of the largest proven and estimated reserves of lithium in Europe.
Lithium is used to make batteries for mobile phones, computers and electric cars, as well as for special glass and ceramics.
There are two proven deposits and two proven lithium mines, as well as some ore that has undergone lithium mineralization.
Ukraine does not mine lithium.
One site is licensed and only three sites can be auctioned.
In addition, there are two places with judicial burdens.
Titanium will also be auctioned off.
Ukraine has one of the world's top 10 proven reserves of titanium ore, accounting for more than 6% of global production.
Twenty-seven deposits and more than 30 deposits of varying degrees of exploration have been recorded.
Only alluvial placer deposits are currently under development and account for about 10% of all explored reserves.
Seven plots of land are planned for auction.
Nonferrous metals have a large number of nickel, cobalt, chromium, copper, molybdenum.
Ukraine has large mineral deposits of non-ferrous metals, which it imports in large quantities to meet its needs.
The explored deposits and ores are distributed in a complex manner, mainly within the Ukrainian Shield.
They are not mined at all, or in very small quantities.
At the same time, mining reserves are: 215,000 tons of nickel, 8,800 tons of cobalt, 453,000 tons of chromium oxide, estimated 312,000 tons of chromium oxide, and 95,000 tons of copper.
"We have offered six items, one of which will be auctioned on March 12, 2021," said the head of the National Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources.
Rare earth and rare metals - tantalum, niobium, beryllium, zirconium and scandium - will also be auctioneered.
Rare and rare earth metals have been found in complex deposits and ores within the Ukrainian Shield.
Zirconium and scandium are concentrated in large quantities in alluvial and primary deposits, which are not mined.
There are 6 deposits of tantalum oxide (Ta2O5), niobium and beryllium, of which 2 are in development.
One area is scheduled to be auctioned on February 15th;
A total of three areas will be auctioned off.
With regard to gold deposits, seven deposits have been recorded, five licences have been issued and mining work is continuing at the Muzhivsk deposit.
One area is being sold at an auction in December 2020, with three more areas planned for auction.
New fossil-fuel production areas will also be auctioned off (one auction will take place on April 21, 2021, with two others in the pipeline).
There are two uranium-bearing areas in the investment map, but reserves are not specified.
Mr Opimak says the mining projects will be implemented for at least five years because they are long-term projects: "These are capital intensive and take a long time to implement."
