Spys Ukraine LLC is preparing to develop the Horodniavska site of the Burtynske graphite deposit in Ukraine's Khmelnytskyi region, a project that could yield up to 1 million tonnes of ore a year. The plan emerged from a notice of planned activity, subject to environmental impact assessment, published on the website of the Shepetivka District State Administration.
The project involves open-pit mining across 105 hectares located about 1 kilometer northeast of the village of Horodniavka. The company holds special subsoil use permit No. 6644, issued on September 9, 2022, for a term of 20 years.
Scale of the deposit
The Burtynske deposit is the largest in Ukraine and one of the largest graphite ore deposits in Europe. Reserves at the Horodniavska site alone are estimated at more than 6 million tonnes of graphite.
According to feasibility study calculations based on detailed exploration of the site, a large-scale operation could extract and process 1 million tonnes of ore annually, producing 55,900 tonnes of graphite concentrate a year. The company estimates its reserves could supply the enterprise for 130 years.
Under the plan, the quarry would extract up to 1 million tonnes of rock mass annually using excavators, with loose graphite ores mined without blasting, while semi-loose and dense ores would require drilling and blasting. Permit data put total ore reserves at 113.4 million tonnes in categories B and C1, plus another 16.6 million tonnes in category C2. Graphite reserves in categories B and C1 are estimated at 6.6 million tonnes, alongside underground technical water reserves of 1,800 cubic meters a day.
Environmental review still pending
The notice states the quarry would become waterlogged during operation, with drainage water intended for technological use. The project may affect the atmosphere, water, soil, and plant and animal life, and planned measures include removing and later reusing the soil and vegetation layer for land reclamation, protecting the quarry against flooding, and reclaiming the land afterward.
Because the quarry and open-pit mining would cover more than 25 hectares, the activity is classified as a first-category object requiring environmental impact assessment. The company must still prepare an assessment report, which will be followed by public discussion; starting the mining activity without a completed assessment and a formal decision is prohibited.
Turkish investors, past gold venture
Spys Ukraine's investors are the Turkish companies Onur Group and Özdoğu Sarp. The firm previously planned to mine gold in the Dnipropetrovsk region, buying a special permit for the Zhovtovodska site for more than 5.7 million hryvnias at an online auction held by the State Service of Geology and Subsoil in December 2020.
Spys Ukraine received the winning permit in February 2021, and Onur Group took control of the company that April. In March 2026, the State Service of Geology and Subsoil canceled the Zhovtovodska permit after the company itself gave it up; an Onur Group representative said the gold content in the ore was three times lower than expected, at 1.4 grams per tonne instead of the anticipated 4.5 grams per tonne, making extraction economically unviable.
Other players in Ukraine's graphite market
Ukraine's graphite market previously drew BGV Group Management, led by Hennadiy Butkevych, which bought two special permits in the Kirovohrad region in 2018 and 2019. In February 2026, the company Solartec Esco, owned by the Czech holding Solartec of Matej Rehak and Libor Bečička, bought a special permit for the Maidanska graphite site near Shepetivka in the Khmelnytskyi region.
