Posted on 03/05/2025 10:06:39 AM PST by RoosterRedux
Ukraine doesn’t actually have any commercial deposits of the rare earths that both Washington and Kyiv have hyped up. The country does not currently produce rare earths, which are a type of critical mineral, nor has it produced rare earths in recent decades. Kyiv only has Soviet-era rare-earth geological mapping, and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war is certain to complicate any mining or processing efforts—all of which require years of hefty investments, even in countries that are not in war.
“Mining is a long-term effort—so the United States may not yield benefits for another 20 years,” a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, stated. It also noted that it takes an average of 18 years globally to develop a mine.
Still, that’s done little to deter U.S. and Ukrainian leaders, who have appeared eager to ink an agreement for weeks. Trump and Zelensky were widely expected to continue negotiations or even sign a deal when the Ukrainian leader visited the White House last Friday, with the key sticking point being explicit U.S. security guarantees.
But when Friday’s talks collapsed into an antagonistic exchange, during which Trump and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance berated Zelensky in front of news cameras, the future of the minerals agreement was pitched into uncertainty.
...
[...] Trump fired back on Monday by temporarily halting all military aid to Ukraine, impacting more than $1 billion worth of ammunition and arms, and tensions between Trump and Zelensky seem to be intensifying. After the Associated Press quoted Zelensky saying that a deal to end the Russia-Ukraine war was “is still very, very far away,” Trump angrily responded on Truth Social.
(Excerpt) Read more at foreignpolicy.com ...
Ping of possible interest (Ukraine rate earth)
Now that you’ve got the picture
What you going to do?
Someone please decide the truth!
I saw images (i forget the site but it was linked from here) of CURRENT Ukrainian mining efforts...machines, men and all...rare earth stuff.
The pictures could be old and it could have been a lie.
I don’t know.
While they may not have much if any production right now, and their geologic mapping might be dated; I’m sure they have enough information to hazard a reasonable guess that they have the minerals to some extent.
Or - Zelensky is the scam mine owner at the entrance to the mine telling Trump of the wonderful riches below but “needs to sell”. But I doubt it.
I bet this writer also has articles from 1990 on how we are running out of oil in 10 years.
Rare earths aren’t rare, just scattered through earth’s crust so finding economical quantities is the challenge. The principal economic sources of rare earths are the minerals bastnasite, monazite, and loparite and the lateritic ion-adsorption clays. Ukraine has deposits of bastnasite but Ukraine’s REE deposits have not been studied because the mining industry has prioritized more readily available commodities such as iron ore, coal and titanium.
So far, it appears that it isn't really a mineral deal—at least not in the way it's being presented.
The core of the agreement is about monetizing Ukraine’s oil, gas, and other state-owned resources through a co-managed reconstruction fund. The "rare earth minerals" angle appears to be a political narrative rather than a reflection of actual resource potential.
It seems that Ukraine does not currently mine or produce rare earth minerals, and there's no commercial infrastructure to do so. The country only has old Soviet-era geological surveys, making the rare earths narrative misleading.
The real deal is about Ukraine putting future revenues from its natural resources into an investment fund. This provides a financial lifeline but also gives the U.S. leverage over Ukraine’s resource wealth.
Trump is positioning this deal as an alternative to direct military aid or security guarantees. His administration argues that economic ties (especially in resources) are a better long-term security strategy than sending troops or weapons.
Get a cup of coffee and relax for a while?;-)
Having some experience in mining, yes - it’s clear the “minerals deal” is a future dream. There’s some indication there are minerals in the ground, but otherwise, nothing has been done. In the West it takes 10-15 years to do detailed drilling and analysis, do metallurgy work, make an engineering and environmental plan and economic assessment, get permits and financing, and build a mine - all before the first rock comes out of the ground.
Trump did this “deal” for two reasons - 1) keep the US involved, in a non-military way, in Ukraine’s future and 2) and Trump showing the rest of the world - the USA does not work for free any longer.
The fact that Zelensky (or those with his ear) would sabotage even this simple gesture boggles the mind.
Just having “rare earths” is meaningless, as they are 17, *seventeen*, different elements. And while several of them will tend to cluster together in a given ore, as different elements, they have different properties. To make things even more confusing, there are two not-”rare earth” elements included with them, scandium and yttrium, just because they are typically found with them.
So you have a “rare earth” mine? Which “rare earth” elements are in it?
The other 15:
Lanthanum (La)
Cerium (Ce)
Praseodymium (Pr)
Neodymium (Nd)
Promethium (Pm)
Samarium (Sm)
Europium (Eu)
Gadolinium (Gd)
Terbium (Tb)
Dysprosium (Dy)
Holmium (Ho)
Erbium (Er)
Thulium (Tm)
Ytterbium (Yb)
Lutetium (Lu)
Any mine that takes 18 years is run by Democrats and bureaocrats. I’ve overseen a uranium mine that went from flat ground to production in 3.
Also, the minerals deal is not just for rare earths — the DNC and RINOs hype that up. It is also about aluminum. Not alunimium — yah Brit TWOTs.
Also, I don’t believe any such study. Many treehuggers go around talking about how we don’t have US access to minerals like lithium. Well, yah other pack of TWOTs, that is ‘cause every attempt to put a mine in place was killed at the state level (or Fed BLM) by regulations.
Well seems like the “source” here is either misinformed or lying.
What minerals does Ukraine have?
Kyiv estimates that about 5% of the world’s “critical raw materials” are in Ukraine.
This includes some 19m 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 aeroplanes to power stations.
It is also home to a third of all European lithium deposits, the key component in current batteries.
Other elements found in Ukraine include beryllium and uranium, which are both crucial for nuclear weapons and reactors.
Deposits of copper, lead, zinc, silver, nickel, cobalt and manganese are also significant.
Further, Ukraine has significant deposits of rare earth metals. These are a group of 17 elements that are used to produce weapons, wind turbines, electronics and other products vital in the modern world.
As with everything in this conflict I just assume everything is BS.
“...which Trump and U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance berated Zelensky in front of news cameras”
Right there is why this whole article is likely BS
Trump gets us into a deal where we can recover some of the money we gave Ukraine and Russia backs off because he doesn't want to attack U.S. interests in Ukraine.
And Russia does have some rare earth minerals in its former Ukraine territories, so Trump will also cut a deal with Russia and make peace in the area a lucrative affair for Russia.
And that’s why they are raw earths.
I saw the former Moscow CIA station chief say on Fox that the area of Ukraine minerals is under Rooskie control.
So far, it appears that it isn’t really a mineral deal—at least not in the way it’s being presented.
The core of the agreement is about monetizing Ukraine’s oil, gas, and other state-owned resources through a co-managed reconstruction fund.
That makes MUCH more sense. It’s hard to imagine Trump and his team getting flimflammed into putting all their eggs into mining extremely limited (or practically nonexistent) rare earth minerals.
We’re not going to stop supplying weapons and money to Ukraine. Instead of getting us out, Trump is pulling us deeper.
Good strategy :)
I dont know who is reputable to believe on this one.
I just want us spending NO MONEY, sending no weapons and NO MEN ever!
If the deal is a great one and helps us, fine. If there is no deal and we walked away from this whole thing, fine.
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