As part of Raw Materials Week, currently underway in Brussels, the Head of the State Geological Survey of Ukraine participated in the conference "UNFC to support harmonizing European raw materials information for resilient supply chains".
The event is organized by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs of the European Commission (The department for growth, DG GROW), the The Geological Surveys of Europe (EuroGeoSurveys), and the projects "Geological Service for Europe" and "FutuRaM." The event is aimed at advancing the use of the UNFC classification approaches for assessing mineral reserves, promoting the system's update, and facilitating its practical application to support the proposed European Critical Raw Material Act by the European Union.
"The Ukrainian classification of reserves and resources of mineral raw materials has a framework nature and is applicable to all types of minerals. It establishes unified principles for calculation, geological-economic evaluation, state accounting, reporting, utilization, and for the formation of the State Subsoil Fund of Ukraine. The classification of mineral reserves in Ukraine, based on the UN Framework Classification, encompasses all stages of subsoil development: from resource exploration to utilization," stated Roman Opimakh.
In 1997, Ukraine became the first in Europe and the world to adopt the UN Framework Classification standards.
The State Commission of Ukraine on Mineral Resources utilizes an approach that allows for the reassessment of deposits initially evaluated under the Soviet classification. This enables potential investors to gain an initial understanding of the attractiveness of the deposit and make decisions regarding its development.
Currently, in Ukraine, over 43% of deposits are assessed using the UNFC system, primarily those currently under development. However, more than 5,000 deposits, the majority of which are unlicensed, were evaluated during the Soviet era and now require reassessment.
Ukraine's enormous resource potential can facilitate the extraction of critical minerals to meet the country's domestic needs and supply partners within the EU.
Ukraine offers a broad spectrum of investment opportunities in the extractive industry, currently featuring nearly 100 projects, predominantly focused on deposits of ten critically important raw materials. 30 investment-ready projects are listed in the Subsoil User Investment Atlas. After the war, they will be available for acquisition through e-auctions or competitive processes involving production-sharing agreements.
These and other projects for the development of Ukraine's subsoil can be identified as strategic for the EU to overcome the current gap in the extraction of mineral resources in Europe.
Source: geo.gov.ua