The key to minerals resources to help Ukraine thrive

Positive trends have been seen after three years of conflict and economic crisis for Ukraine’s economy.
In 2016, Ukraine’s GDP increased by 2.3%. According to data from the State Statistical Services of Ukraine, this was the first time in four years that a growth in GDP has been recorded. Industrial production growth in the country is also accelerating; in January 2017, it increased 5.6% compared to January last year.
Stepan Kubiv, First Vice Prime Minister, announced that, “Ukraine has all the prerequisites to restore its industrial success.”
It’s too early to talk about success yet but the first signs of restrained optimism cannot be ignored. For instance, significant deferred domestic demand, formed in 2014-2015 and bolstered by higher iron ore prices, has led to a revival of the machine-building market. Growth has also been seen in the production of building materials from natural materials and non-metallic mineral products.
However, we cannot talk about the real revival of Ukrainian industry without modernisation. Deterioration of industrial equipment, including in the mining industry, in Ukraine is around 90%. Without new technologies, special machinery, and equipment, it will not be possible to take full advantage of the abundance of natural resources in the country.
Ukraine’s subsurface resources include a concentration of around a hundred types of minerals, the market value of which is estimated by experts to reach $7.5 trillion USD. In total, Ukraine’s mineral resource base is formed of 20,000 deposits and ore manifestations, of which 7,800 are explored and only 3,300 are being developed.
Analysts and scientists claim that Ukraine is developing its raw material potential one-sidedly. In mining a limited range of minerals used in the coal – iron ore – steel chain, the industry still has untapped reserves of rare-earth materials left intact.
Ukraine harbours significant reserves of non-ferrous and rare-earth metals including unique deposits of beryllium, zirconium, tantalum, and a complex of phosphoric rare-earth and rare-metal ores. Ukraine’s confirmed reserves of lithium are the largest in Europe. The country also has a real opportunity to enter the global market with pure and ultra-pure metals such as gallium, indium, thallium, lead, and tin.
China, Australia, and Kazakhstan, for example, are actively developing their mining and processing rare earth minerals industries.
Ukraine just needs to harness its mineral resources to thrive. For this to happen, new technologies and large investments are needed, which can become the real drivers of the Ukrainian economy.
A wide range of advanced modern technologies and equipment for the Ukrainian mining and coal industry will be presented at the international exhibition Mining World Ukraine, which will be held from 11-13 October 2017 in Kyiv. This is a specialised exhibition of equipment, special machinery, and technologies for mining, treating and transporting minerals. The exhibition is supported by the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry, as well as the State Service of Geology and Mineral Resources of Ukraine.
The exhibition will bring together exhibitors from 15 countries to present equipment for the coal mining industry, quarrying and drilling equipment, machinery and equipment for transporting minerals, pumps, compressor equipment and much more. More than 3,000 professionals from mining and other related industries will attend the exhibition.
More than 200 chief engineers, technologists, mechanics, mine surveyors, geologists, and professionals from business and government structures will share their experience and developments in the industry at the Mineral Resource Users Forum and conferences planned during the exhibition. The business programme will touch on current issues and prospects in developing the extraction and processing of ore and non-metallic minerals in Ukraine.