By Duygu Alhan and Basak Erkalan
Türkiye wants to bring 1,200 tons of critical minerals to the local economy with the Beylikova Fluorite, Barite and Rare Earth Elements Pilot Plant, in the Beylikova district of central Turkish province of Eskisehir.
The plant, which started operations in April, is set to add 1,200 tons of rare elements to the Turkish economy by processing them annually, according to data compiled by the Anadolu in honor of the 100th anniversary of Republic of Türkiye.
In the first phase, the facility will focus on the production of seven rare earth elements and their oxides, which will be manufactured for the first time.
Rare elements such as fluorite, barite, lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, samarium, gadolinium, europium, neodymium and 17 other rare earth elements will be subject to production at the facility.
The plant will also process thorium -- a raw element for nuclear fuel similar to uranium.
The elements to be processed are used in green energy conversion in high-tech products, the defense industry, laser guidance systems and electronic equipment.
The data noted that the substitution of the elements is not available at this technological level.
After the pilot plant, plans are to move to the industrial facility to produce 570,000 tons annually and to generate an annual income of approximately $220 million for the country.
The Beylikova district is the second-largest rare earth element field with 694 million tons after the Bayan Obo field in China, which has approximately 800 million tons of reserves.
The site, which dates to the 1950s, was commissioned in the 100th year of the Republic with $4 million investment of as a result of studies between 2011 - 2017.
- Records in gold and coal production
Türkiye, which hosts 2% of the world's gold reserves, produced 42 tons in 2020, breaking the record in the Republic's history.
Looking at the data from the last five years, Türkiye has increased its average gold production to around 35 tons per year.
Türkiye, which has about 2.1% of the total world coal reserves, recorded another milestone by producing more than 105 million tons of coal last year.
It’s saleable coal production in 2021 amounted to 74.06 million tons, including 72.82 million tons of lignite and asphaltite and 1.24 million of hard coal.
In Türkiye, which has an important place in terms of lignite, 19.32 billion tons of lignite and asphaltite and 1.52 billion tons of hard coal, constitute total coal reserves, which is approximately 20.84 billion tons.
As a result of studies between 2005 and 2022, the country's lignite reserves increased by 11.91 billion tons (approximately 143%) and reached 20.4 billion tons together with the fields belonging to the private sector.
- Türkiye holds 70 natural resource types
Türkiye has abundant natural resources in the mining sector, with 70 different types within its borders and trades 60.
It ranks among the top five nations in the world in terms of raw material reserves such as boron, marble, trona, feldspar, barite, gypsum, chrome and cement. Also, it is rich in various mineral resources such as gold, silver, nickel, aluminum, iron, copper, lead, zinc and antimony.
Throughout the history of the Republic, various governmental institutions have been established to promote the development of the mining sector.
In the past decade, Türkiye has produced an average of 742 million tons of minerals annually. Last year, it achieved a historic milestone by recording a 9.1% increase in mineral exports, which amounted to $6.5 billion, setting a record in the history of the Republic's mining industry.
The sector's contribution to the gross domestic product has grown from $11 billion to 93 billion Turkish liras in the last 14 years. Additionally, the mining's share in the national income has increased gradually each year, from 0.8% to 1.4% as of last year.
The country also achieved the highest level in the history of the Republic in boron production and export in 2022.
- Türkiye established boron carbide production facility on 100th anniversary
Türkiye, the fifth-largest boron carbide producer in the world, started operation of the country’s first boron carbide facility in the Bandırma district, with a market value of approximately $60 billion.
The country has the world’s largest boron reserves, with 3.3 billion tons out of the global total of 4 billion tons. It accounts for 73% of the world’s boron reserves and has 62% of the world market share.
Boron carbide is an important material used in defense, nuclear, metallurgy, automotive and mechanical parts production industries.
State-owned mining company Eti Maden's refined boron sales of 2.6 million tons made $1.3 million in income last year, breaking a record.
Türkiye aims to increase income from boron exports by converting boron ore into boron carbide, which has a higher added value, and to increase the added value of boron ore and play a key role in the production and sale of the world's third-hardest material.