The investor will not invest in lithium mining in Ukraine until the resources are evaluated on an international scale - GSC

No rational investor will invest his funds in the development of lithium deposits in Ukraine until their resource base is assessed according to international standards.

This opinion was expressed by Oleksiy Falkovych, director of GSC Geological Service Company LLC, during the discussion panel "New Industrial Policy of Ukraine: the prospect of mining and processing of lithium and other strategically important minerals" organized by "EnergoBusiness" magazine, which took place today, December 13.

"They (investors - ed.) do not understand the classification adopted in our country. "Only natives of the former Soviet Union, if they work abroad, understand the categories in which the State Reserve Commission accepts these reserves today," he said.

According to him, to date, none of the Ukrainian deposits have been evaluated according to international standards.

At the same time, as Oleksiy Falkovych reported, Ukraine has the largest lithium deposit in Europe - Polokhivske. The "Dobra" lithium ore site is located next to it. There is also the Shevchenkiv deposit.

Falkovich believes that in order to attract foreign investors to their development, it is necessary to evaluate their reserves, for example, according to the Australian JORK system.

Also, the director of the GSC Geological Service Company drew attention to the fact that Ukrainian legislation requires an investor to start mining 3 years after obtaining a license for the development of a field, but this, according to him, is impossible, because it takes at least 5 years to prepare a field for mining years

Falkovych emphasized that the state building regulations (SBR) are outdated and need to be updated.