The US and Ukraine signed a subsoil agreement on April 30. However, the true value of Ukraine’s minerals remains uncertain. U.S. President Donald Trump has suggested that the worth of Ukraine’s subsoil could reach trillions of dollars. President Zelenskyy has stated that Ukraine’s mineral wealth is “priceless.”
Efforts to extract and process minerals are progressing slowly and may require extensive new infrastructure, with costs remaining unpredictable. Experts indicate that, in many cases, this suggests that the mineral deposits are not economically viable for development.Extracting several critical minerals sought by the US, including lithium, graphite, uranium, and titanium, “require billions in investment,” according to the director of SecDev, a company that examined Ukraine’s resources before Trump and Zelenskyy met at the White House in late February.
Therefore, gaining access to Ukrainian minerals for the US could be a long-term gamble, as developing a new mine can take over 10 years. Furthermore, 40% of Ukraine’s critical minerals are presently located in territories that are currently occupied by Russia.