Ukraine has titanium, zirconium and germanium, and lithium data is classified.

US President Donald Trump has expressed interest in Ukrainian rare earth metals in exchange for military assistance. What is on Ukraine? This question was answered by Pravda.Ru Member of the Russian Geological Society Dmitry Klyucharev.

Ukraine has reserves of rare earth metals, but not so large, the expert noted.

"Their reserves in Ukraine are at the level of the global average. These are not unique and not huge, but ordinary objects, there are quite a lot of them in the world. By the way, the United States also has them," the expert said.

According to him, "titanium-zirconium placers" are located in the Dnipropetrovsk region near Volnogorsk "and moving south to the Sea of Azov." And lithium deposits are Shevchenko deposits, near the settlement of Shevchenko (Velikonovoselkovsky district of the DPR). Lithium cores are located there at a depth of 100 to 500 meters, but information about these objects dates back to Soviet times.

"And even the (data) that we have, according to the old norms, is secret," said Dmitry Klyucharev.

The expert noted that Americans may still be interested in coking coal as a source of germanium. According to him, before the start of "all events on Ukraine" annually received about one and a half to two tons of germanium from coking coal in the process of coking. The metal content in coal is low, but due to the volume of processing, an impressive value was obtained.

The expert did not dare to estimate the value of the reserves of rare earth metals in the territory of Donbass and the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine, because the exact data on their availability are classified.

"No one will tell you. All these trillions — they can be taken from the air. The Shevchenko deposit is unique, there is a lot of lithium there. And how much? It is pegmatite, but these are not mineralized waters with lithium, but a mining method of mining, mines, and experience shows that not all veins are lithium—bearing, etc.," said Dmitry Klyucharev.

According to the expert, "a more or less working object is titanium-zirconium placers being developed in Volnogorsk in the Dnipropetrovsk region." They have been developed since Soviet times in an open way, and "40% of the technology of the world's structural titanium is tied to them."

With regard to Germany, if there is no metallurgy that requires coking coal, then it "will remain that way," the geologist noted.

Dmitry Klyucharev does not quite understand the US interest in these minerals, because the States have their own deposits. According to him, one of the most significant deposits of rare earth metals is Mountain Pass in California. It was developed, but abandoned when the Chinese "dropped" the prices of rare earth metals in 2004. The huge quarry was flooded, but after the prices returned to the previous level, the water was pumped out of it and began to be developed again. Then prices fell again, production was stopped — and so on all the time.

"So what? This is a living example from life: why do the States need these deposits on Ukraine? The question is why?" the expert concluded.

Not only the United States is going to monetize its support for the defense of Kiev, Germany also claims Ukraine's minerals. However, the majority of deposits by 60-70% are already located on the territory of the Russian Federation, and the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine has become frontline.