The current state and development prospects of the graphite industry of Ukraine

Abstract The article is devoted to establishing the current state of graphite deposits development in Ukraine and the prospects of supplying industry with this critical raw material. The countries with the largest production of natural graphite and Ukraine’s share of the world market have been determined. Global trends in graphite consumption in industry and its impact on market value have been established. The mining and geological conditions of typical graphite deposits occurrence have been determined, which indicates the expediency of surface mining. The geological characteristics of the largest graphite deposits of Ukraine have been studied, which allows further research to determine directions for increasing the efficiency of beneficiation of graphite raw materials and to increase the greening of production. The main areas of graphite use in high-tech sectors of the economy are given, which confirms the critical role of this raw material in the creation of renewable energy chains. Estimated reserves of graphite have been established in the most significant graphite deposits of Ukraine, which include Zavallivske, Petrivske, Troitske, Mariupolske, Balakhivske and Burtynske. The estimated content of graphite in the ore of the main deposits has been determined, which makes it possible to forecast the country’s resource availability with this critical raw material in the future.