Unclear whether Ukraine-US rare earth saga is a masterstroke or colonial appropriation

Deep under the ground in the east of Ukraine sits a veritable mineral motherlode: rich reserves of coal, dense concentrations of iron ore and, further west in Nikopol, some of the world’s biggest resources of manganese – as well as other, more exotic minerals. The geological riches of the Donbas and its neighbouring regions have long been looked at with envy by the country’s friends, enemies and neighbours as a prize. In the 19th century, Tsar Alexander II pinpointed the basin of the Donets River as the ideal spot for iron and steelworks – in large part because of the…