A systematic analysis of the mineral resource base (MRB) of strategically important minerals for the Ukrainian economy is carried out. Four categories of strategic minerals from the point of view of their investment attractiveness are identified: traditional (iron, manganese, titanium, uranium, kaolin, sand molding, building stones, quartz raw materials, refractory clay); highly promising (rare earths, zirconium and hafnium, lithium, scandium, germanium, graphite, potassium salts, abrasive raw materials, piezooptical raw materials); promising (nickel, cobalt, chromium, aluminum, copper, tantalum and niobium, beryllium, gold, phosphorite, apatite, fluorspar, glauconite, limestones for sugar industry, flux limestones and dolomites, bentonite clays, feldspar, rough semi-precious stones); with unclear prospects (vanadium, lead and zinc, tungsten, molybdenum, platinum minerals, strontium, magnesium, arsenic, rubidium, cesium, barite, boron, dawsonite, bromine and iodine, mineral sorbents, high alumina raw materials, raw materials for mineral production of paints, fluorine, sulfur). Factors and criteria of investment attractiveness are determined and its expert assessment for deposits of metallic and industrial minerals and rocks of Ukraine is carried out, ways of creation of harmoniously developed balanced MRB of strategic minerals are shown.
