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US-backed mining company TechMet wants to develop a major lithium project in Ukraine, in what could be one of the first projects built under the US-Ukraine minerals deal that is close to being finalised.
TechMet chief executive Brian Menell said lithium resources at the Dobra project in central Ukraine were “very significant”, and the company had been looking at the site since 2023. The US government is a shareholder.
Washington and Kyiv are working to sign a minerals deal in coming days, and representatives from the US are in Saudi Arabia this week for talks over ending the Russia-Ukraine war.
TechMet’s interest in the Dobra project was not dependent on the minerals deal, said Menell. “However, if the minerals deal were to happen, it would certainly enhance our interest, and would create a framework that would justify doing more, bigger, quicker,” he added.
TechMet’s investment partner in the Dobra lithium project is Ronald Lauder, a billionaire friend of President Trump. Lauder has also been a big advocate of US efforts to buy Greenland.
Part-owned by the US government, TechMet is a Dublin-based mining investment vehicle valued at $1.2bn, whose other investors include the Qatar Investment Authority, Mercuria, and Lansdowne Partners.
The company was formed during the first Trump administration, when the US International Development Finance Corporation invested and became a shareholder, and its mission is to further US and European interests in critical minerals, and reduce China’s dominance of the supply chain.
Dobra is one of a number of major lithium deposits in Ukraine, including Polokhivske and Shevchenko, which is in Russian controlled territory.
Demand for lithium, which is used in batteries for electric cars, is expected to increase over the next decade.
Since Trump took office again on January 20, he has been focused on increasing US access to minerals resources, including in Greenland and Ukraine.
Mennell said that it was “enormously valuable” to have a new administration that was “much more willing to do big, new things, that the country and the world needs”, in terms of critical minerals.
“We hope that we could be a big part of them doing bigger things, quicker, and being bolder on the global critical minerals supply chain stage,” he added.
The US-Ukraine minerals deal would create a development fund using future proceeds from mining projects; the funding would be used to invest in reconstruction projects in Ukraine.
The minerals deal was expected to be signed last month, but delayed by a public Oval Office clash between US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In Ukraine, the government has not yet opened the tender process to award the licence to develop the Dobra lithium project. TechMet plans to be among the bidders for the project, which would involve building a lithium mine and processing facilities.
Menell said TechMet had also looked at other areas of potential in Ukraine beyond the Dobra lithium deposit, including in titanium, uranium and graphite.
“All of these critical mineral opportunities in Ukraine, require time, investment and management,” said Menell. “I think it [the critical minerals deal] is positive, assuming it now happens, and assuming it is implemented in a way that is effective, which is not going to be easy.”
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