The licensed Dobra deposit in Kirovohrad region spans 1,700 hectares and is estimated to contain up to 100 million tonnes of ore — sufficient to sustain mining operations 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.
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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.”
