Trump's mineral transactions in a fighting Ukraine mining environment

Trump's mineral transactions in a fighting Ukraine mining environment

irshansk, Ukraine - the mechanical arm of the titanium removal reaches over the frozen soil, which shows a spacious, moon -like landscape with unnatural colors. The breakdown of Titan has greater urgency here in Irshansk.

The electricity that drives the huge machines is only occasionally available for three hours a day. Raw materials such as titanium could be crucial for the planned deal of rare earths, which is suddenly the focus of the peace talks in ukrainian . However, the signatories of the deal, the United States and the Ukraine, seem to have opposing opinions about the conditions that leave many controversial details for future discussions.

doubts about the commitments

some Current and former US-Beamte have doubts by President Donald Trump expressed that the potential deal that he is about to sign that would offer the US simple access to a wealth of rare earths. Much of what is available will be difficult to open up, especially in times of war.

From this plagued mine in the northwestern city of Irshansk, it is difficult to imagine how Ukraine could repay the $ 500 billion proposed by Trump.

challenges in mining

"Now we don't know how and whether our work will continue tomorrow," said Dmytro Holik, director of the mining and preparation work of the Ukrainian conglomerate Group DF. "Every day we see how the Ukraine energy system is destroyed. Whole regions are cut off in an emergency every day," he added, with regard to the waves of drones and rockets with which Russia attacks Ukrainian houses and energy infrastructures.

The staff of the work mainly consists of men who are spared conscription, since Titan is considered a critical industry. The profits are low, the prospects are dark. "Our company is now very unstable, which leads to very high production costs," said Holik.

an unclear deal

The nature of the framework contract-from which a text that CNN saw on Wednesday morning should be signed by US finance minister Scott Bessent and the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha-remains opaque, similar to the elements of the industry that you want to open up. It refers to half of the value of the "relevant natural resources that are owned by the Ukrainian government", says that the specific details "are agreed by both participants, as can be described in more detail in the fund contract." The contract also states that these "not up -to -date sources of income ... already include part of the household funds of Ukraine".

mineral -rich Ukraine

The scope of the mineral richness of Ukraine is unclear. Ukrainian civil servants admit that they sometimes rely on geological dates from the Soviet period. In a recent presentation by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Kiev claimed to have 7 % of global titanium production and 3 % of lithium reserves - which are still untouched. In addition, Ukraine claimed to be among the five largest nations in graphite reserves and to have the occurrence of the rare earths tantalum, niob and beryllium

The figures are similar to the information in the Ukraine chapter of the Mineral Yearbook 2020-2021 of the US Geological Survey, which was written before the extensive invasion of Russia that disturbed production. At the time, the USGS reported that the Ukraine was the fifth largest producer of Titan-Sponge and the sixth largest producer of graphite.

difficulties in the value assessment

A USGS mineral raw material report for 2025 gave no figures on the graphite reserves and found that the Ukraine was a source for the rare metal scandium and had closed an aluminum refinery with a capacity of 1.7 million tons per year since 2022.

Natalia Bariatska, doctor of geology and member of the Australian Institute of Geoscientists, said that critical raw materials are all in different phases of research and development. "It is very difficult to talk about the actual value of this occurrence," said Bariatska. "We can talk about the value of the elements underground, but we have to understand that it requires a lot of investments to promote, process and sell them."

hope for future options

While the framework contract leaves unclear which assets will be affected by a future fund, the US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz made an explicit reference to an Ukrainian "aluminum foundry" during a briefing in the White House on February 20. "It is damaged, no longer works in full when it is renovated, she could cover the entire aluminum import of the USA for a whole year," said Waltz. He did not call the foundry, but the most likely facility he referred to is the integrated aluminum plant in Zaporizhzhia.

a decade ago, a video of the work, which was published by Ukrainian investigators in 2015, shows that it is a significant need for repair. Since then, it has been running with a greatly reduced workforce and, according to a report by the state ownership fund of Ukraine, has already been made by a rocket attack.