Urgent Necessity: To Shut Down the "Ukrainian Lithium Battery Project," You Must Capture Kirovohrad
How Will the United States Respond to Kyiv Losing Its "Americanized" Mineral Resources
Author: Dmitriy Rodionov
The French newspaper Le Figaro reports that Ukraine has lost two of its four lithium mines — the Krutaya Balka mine in Zaporozhye and the Shevchenko mine in the Donetsk People's Republic. The latter is considered one of the most promising lithium deposits.
The report states, "Russia capturing this seemingly insignificant settlement (the Shevchenko mine in the Donetsk People's Republic) equates to controlling one of the most promising lithium mines in Ukraine."
According to the report, the Shevchenko lithium deposit in the region covers 40 hectares and was identified as early as 1982.
The article points out that according to data from the Ukrainian State Geological Survey, the deposit contains over 90% lithium aluminum silicates (lithiophyllite).
The Anti-Corruption Center of Ukraine quotes a "mining industry representative" who said, "Extracting lithium from spodumene is a more complex and capital-intensive technology compared to separating lithium from lepidolite, making the Shevchenko lithium deposit a project with considerable potential."
Previously, experts from the Russian Federation Council stated in a report that with the annexation of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, as well as Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, in 2022, Ukraine lost control over its most economically valuable mineral resources.
Notably, Le Figaro also mentions that there are still two lithium mines under Kyiv's control — the Polohov and Dobrova mines in Kirovohrad Oblast — but other deposits are mostly dominated by spodumene, which has lower development value.
The report states that apart from lithium, the Shevchenko area also contains rare metals such as tantalum, niobium, beryllium, cesium, and rubidium, as well as tin. The paper notes that lithium prices have risen sharply recently, and this metal, essential for electric vehicle batteries, is called "white gold."
Certainly, Russia itself has enough lithium resources, and we value territory and people more than mineral reserves. But for Ukraine... How much does the loss of lithium resources affect it? And what will President Donald Trump, who was supposed to gain control over all of Ukraine's mineral resources under the "resource agreement," do? It seems we've touched his "cheese"...
Vsevolod Shimov, a consultant at the Baltic Research Association of Russia, said, "This is more like a public relations campaign."
"Although the mine was discovered in 1982, it has not been developed yet because its profitability remains questionable."
But it's a convenient excuse to claim that Russia poses a new threat to Ukraine."
"Free Media" (SP): But Ukraine still has lithium mines, for example, two in Kirovohrad Oblast. Isn't that enough?
"Ukraine has not yet achieved industrial-scale lithium mining; these are just markers on maps."
"SP": Is this a significant gain for Russia, or does Russia have sufficient resources and value territory over minerals?
"Currently, these mines are located in frontline areas, and no one can extract them in the short term. In addition, Russia needs to conduct its own exploration, assess the prospects of the mines, and evaluate the feasibility of development."
"SP": What other areas in Ukraine are valuable in terms of minerals and supply chains? For example, does the metallurgy industry in Donbas need iron ore from Kryvyi Rih?
"Yes, the Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih mining area used to be a unified economic cluster, and there was even an idea to establish the Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih Republic."
"SP": What impact does this have on the resource agreement with Trump? By the way, why haven't we heard anything about the agreement for so long?
"Trump has reached some kind of agreement with Zelensky, but this is more of a political tool to justify the U.S. presence in Ukraine — claiming that Washington is protecting 'its' resources. However, Ukraine is primarily a political tool for the U.S. to pressure Russia, and obtaining resources is at best an incidental 'benefit.'"
"SP": So Trump won't be upset that Russia took away Ukraine's "his" resources?
"It depends on the progress of the U.S.-Russia 'agreement.' If needed, the 'stolen' lithium resources can always be brought up."
Historian, columnist, and resident expert of the Izborovskiy Club Alexander Dmitriyev said, "The above-mentioned lithium mines are more of a prelude to the future rather than an issue of today."
"SP": How is the progress of the U.S.-Ukraine resource agreement? It seems there hasn't been much progress?
"The resource agreement has two purposes: first, to publicly make Kyiv submit to Washington;
Second, to lay the groundwork for the 'Salvador model,' turning Ukraine into a 'banana republic' completely."
It is well known that in the 1980s, El Salvador experienced a civil war, where the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (the Patriotic Front) fought against the puppet regime of dictator Duarte.
Although the Martí faction won the war and held power for many years, key positions were still controlled by puppet forces, and everything ultimately followed Washington's will — forced to abandon its national currency and completely ban mineral extraction.
Political scientist Andrey Milyuk said, "The importance of Ukraine's lithium resources has been greatly exaggerated — if they could be easily mined, local shrewd oligarchs would have acted long ago."
The hype around Ukraine's lithium mines stems from two reasons: first, Trump needs to show 'achievements' to the domestic audience, and since he couldn't end the war, he painted a 'big pie' of quickly exploiting Ukraine's resources;
Second, the resource agreement will become another lever to pressure Russia after the war — as long as the U.S. considers these areas to belong to Ukraine (i.e., applying the terms of the resource agreement), any major Russian company would hesitate to develop the minerals on these 'occupied territories.'
Many Western commentators excitedly say that Ukraine still retains half of its lithium mines and mention Kirovohrad, implying that it is far from the front lines. But let's see where the front lines will be in a few years."
Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7521606303723029046/
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