Lithium deposit in Kirovohrad region expected to sustain mining for decades
The information was shared with an Ukrinform correspondent by Mykhailo Heichenko, CEO and Chief Geologist at UkrLithiumMining LLC, together with Bohdan Slobodian, a PhD candidate at the Institute of Geochemistry, Mineralogy and Ore Formation of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine and former Chief Geologist at UkrLithiumMining.
“I estimate the deposit at around 60 million tonnes of ore. My colleague Bohdan Ivanovych Slobodian believes it could be closer to 100 million tonnes. At an annual extraction rate of one million tonnes, that would mean 60 years of production. Even if production rises to 1.5–2 million tonnes through more advanced technologies, the deposit would still support mining operations for decades. With 60 million tonnes, that’s at least 30 years; with 100 million tonnes, our grandchildren could still be working here,” Heichenko said.
Slobodian offered a more optimistic outlook: “I rely on data from Kirovgeology, which carried out exploration in the 1990s. The first borehole revealing lithium was drilled in 1989, and the last in 1994. Based on these studies, mineral resources exceed 100 million tonnes of ore. The assessment covers depths of up to 500 meters, with lithium ore appearing immediately below loose sediments — from around 60–80 meters down to 500 meters. The licensed area spans 1,700 hectares. These are the figures we are working with.”
The Dobra site is located in Novoukrainka district of Kirovohrad region, stretching from the eastern outskirts of Novostankuvata village to the northern outskirts of Ternove village.
Lithium-bearing ores in the region were first identified in 1989 during gold exploration, alongside deposits of tantalum, niobium, rubidium, beryllium, tin, cesium, and tungsten. In 2017, the State Commission of Ukraine on Mineral Resources officially consolidated the Nadiya and Stankuvata ore deposits into a single zone known as Dobra. A defining characteristic of this deposit is the presence of two key lithium minerals: petalite and spodumene.
As reported earlier, the Cabinet of Ministers selected the winner of the tender to develop the Dobra lithium deposit under a production sharing agreement (PSA). The winner, Dobra Lithium Holdings JV, LLC, is backed by internationally recognized companies Techmet and The Rock Holdings. The project is expected to attract at least $179 million in capital investment, including $12 million for new geological exploration and international reserve audits, and $167 million for mining and processing operations, subject to confirmation of industrial-scale reserves.
