Because Trump wants the rare lands and the critical raw materials of Ukraine

Rare (ree) and critical raw materials (CRMS) are taking on an increasingly strategic role in the Sino-Stanitense competition in the automotive field, referring to the development of new technologies and electric vehicles (EV) and plug-in hybrids (Hev). In this scenario, Donald Trump and Elon Musk have evaluated the possibility of exploiting the rare Ukrainian lands, placing the goal of increasing, in the medium-long term, the productive skills of the American automotive sector, engaged in the global industrial competition against the main car manufacturers of the People’s Republic of China: Byd, Chary, Chery and Geely. Then it can be useful to deepen the distinction between rare lands and critical raw materials, and then focus attention on the Ukrainian mining situation.

Rare earth

–

The rare lands, according to the definition of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), include a group of 17 elements (itrio, Scandio and 15 Lananoids), indispensable for the implementation of the Green Deal, presented by the European Commission on 11 December 2019. It is a project that aims to reach climatic neutrality by 2050. Furthermore, according to the document Rare Earth Elements Facts issued in 2022 by the Canadian government, the rres are also used in various industrial sectors, including:

• Production of permanent magnets, which are used in phones, televisions, computers, cars, wind turbines, machines for magnetic resonance imaging, planes and cars.
• Catalysts
• Polishing powders
• Metallurgics
• Battery alloys

In recent years, the growing importance of rare lands in the automotive sector has been influenced, as reported by the Studies of the USGS, by the monopoly of the People’s Republic of China, corresponding to the possession of about 40% of the global rees. All this allowed the main giants of the Chinese car (Byd, MG, Omoda and Jaecoo) to speed up production and reduce the technological gap with the main European and US houses.

Critic raw materials

–

Critical raw materials (CMS) identify the essential natural resources for the main high -tech sectors (aerospace, automotive, telecommunications, robotics etc …), whose “critical issues”, as reported by European regulation on critical raw materials last March 2024, it depends “on a high risk of disturbance of the supply, caused by the concentration of sources and the lack of valid substitutes and affordable prices”. In the Community document, the legislator tried to protect the strategic sectors and at the same time identified 17 CRMS: Bauxite/alumina/aluminum, Bismuto, Boro, Cobalt, Copper, Gallium, Germanio, Lithium, Metallic Magnesium, Manganese, Graphite, Nickel, Metals of the Platinum Group, elements of the rare lands for permanent magnets (ND, PR. TB, DY, GD, SM, EC), Metallic silicon, metal titanium and tungsten. Among the CRMS indicated by the European Parliament, lithium, nickel and cobalt minerals are essential for the production of electric and plug-in cars which, according to the European Deal European Development project, should play an important role in future European mobility.

Rare lands and raw materials critical in Ukraine

–

On the European continent, Ukraine is one of the main countries with the greater concentration of mining resources (About 20,000 known deposits of 117 minerals), of which over 20 of critical raw materials (nickel, uranium, copper, manganese, graphite, beryllium and lithium) and rare lands, mostly concentrated in the area of ​​the Azov sea. Referring to the CMS, Kiev has many minerals indicated by the European regulation on critical raw materials, such as lithium (Li), the graphitetitanium, beryllium and manganese. According to the estimates of the Ukrainian Geological Survey, Ukraine has 500,000 tons of lithiumconcentrated in four sites (Polokhivske, Dobra, Shevchenkivske and Kruta Balka), corresponding to a third of the European deposits of Li Europeans and about 3% of the world resources; In addition, Kiev has about 13.7 million tons of graphite, distributed in four deposits (Balakhivka, Zavalia, Zarichna and Burttyn), which produce approximately 5,500 tons per year. According to Roman Opimakh, general manager of Ukrainian Geological Surveythe great concentration in Ukraine of “lithium, graphite and nickel will be sufficient to produce batteries with a total capacity of 1,000 gigawattara (GWH) to support the production of about 20 million electric vehicles or to be used to produce other devices”.

This evaluation collides with the will of Elon Musk and Donald Trump to acquire, at low cost, the Ukrainian Cmrs to increase the competitiveness of the US automotive sector towards Chinese brands. Ukraine, in addition to lithium, graphite and nickel, holds one of the largest European titanium reserves; Also, it has 2 billion tons of Manganese, 15,300 tons of beryllium oxide (beo) and produces 2% of the world uranium, satisfying about 30% of the needs of its nuclear power plants.