On the State Geological Portal, the State Service of Geology and Subsoil of Ukraine has published a report on the verification of reserves of strategic and critical minerals, taking into account international classification systems, in particular the United Nations Framework Classification for Resources (UNFC).
At the request of the State Service of Geology and Subsoil, the State Commission of Ukraine on Mineral Resources carried out a review and re-evaluation of reserves of critical and strategic materials and raw minerals using the UNFC system and prepared a report.
The document outlines the resource base of unlicensed deposits and subsoil areas containing aluminium, barite, vanadium, germanium, graphite, iron, gold, potash, lithium, magnesium salts, manganese, nickel, rare and rare-earth metal ores, silver, strontium, tantalum, niobium, titanium, and zircon.
The classification is intended to meet the needs of different raw material sectors and areas of application and is fully aligned with the principles of sustainable resource management. UNFC is a globally recognized system that classifies resources and reserves on the basis of three fundamental criteria:
- E – the degree of favourability of environmental, social, and economic conditions for ensuring project viability, including market prices, legal, regulatory, environmental, and contractual aspects;
- F – the level of technical (technological) feasibility of developing the resource (reserves and resources), which reflects the maturity of technologies, studies, and commitments required to implement the project;
- G – the level of confidence in the estimates of the quantities of products that will be obtained from the project.