Critical mineral raw materials and their prospects in Ukraine

Abstract

Rapid economic growth of developing countries, combined with the accelerated spread of new technologies, has led to a significant increase in demand for metals and minerals, which are used to cover general needs in raw materials, and various elements used in high-tech industries. The global trend of transition to sustainable development strongly depends on the continuous supply of various minerals or materials. In this regard, it is crucial to establish collaboration between different stakeholders in the sphere of critical materials management throughout the global supply chain. “Criticality” is determined by the importance of raw materials for future development and the vulnerability of the supply chains, which is considered a potential threat to development. Criticality can be assessed at different levels: for a specific product, technology, company, country or region, or even globally. The article provides a brief overview of the concept of “critical raw materials” and the development trajectories of national strategies for critical minerals from key stakeholders – China, USA, Europe, Japan and Australia. Strategic goals are results of processes that depend on national interests, resource availability and historical experience in anticipating supply risks. Reliable and unbiased access to minerals is an essential factor in terms of competitiveness, so importing countries are stimulating diversification through coordinated action, i.e. they are collecting data on the production, processing and sale of minerals. Today, the EU is an importer of many types of critical minerals, and it is exploring the possibility to obtain them not only from sources within the EU but also in neighboring countries. Ukraine is one of the most mineral-rich countries, so our country may become one of the reliable partners for consumers of critical mineral raw materials, including the European Union. Today, an important task is to increase the production of “critical materials” and create capacities for their enrichment and primary processing, because it is expected that demand for them will grow rapidly on the global market.

Keywords

• critical mineral raw materials
• economic importance
• supply risk
• mineral raw material base of ukraine