TURKEY MINING SECTOR

Despite having a range of minerals, some significant reserves and government

support for investment in mining activities, Turkey's mining potential is largely
untapped. 77 out of the 90 minerals that are traded worldwide can be extracted in
Turkey. Turkey has rich or very rich deposits for 50 of those minerals.

Turkey's strong tectonic and magmatic history has resulted in these rich underground
reserves. The most important minerals explored and extracted in Turkey are: boron
salt, perlite, marble, pumice, feldspar, bentonite, barite, magnesite, sodium sulphate,
rock salt, trona, gypsum, strontium salts, sepiolite, zeolite, olivine, asbestos,
dolomite, emery, and lignite. Other minerals extracted and explored in Turkey include
chromium, copper, zinc, lead, silver and gold.

Turkey has:
-72% of global boron reserves.
-33% of global marble reserves.
-2.5% of global industrial raw materials.

Nadir AVSAROGLU
Mining Engineer
2020
TURKEY MINING SECTOR

Mining may well have been the second of humankind’s earliest endeavors-granted
that agriculture was the first. The two industries ranked together as the primary or
basic industries of early civilizations were and still are the main sources of raw
materials. Throughout history, mining has continued to make great contributions to
the social and economical welfare of several societies which explains the
identification of several cultural eras by various minerals or by their derivatives: the
Stone Age (prior to 4000 BC), the Bronze Age (4000 to 5000 BC), the Iron Age (1500
BC to 1780 CE), the Steel Age (1780 to 1945) and the Nuclear Age (1945 to the
present). Therefore, human culture is bound to the availability of minerals and metals,
and our prehistoric ancestors depended on mining just as we do today.

Turkey, an important segment of the Alpine-Himalayan tectonic belt, has potential for
the discovery of a wide range of economic mineral deposits including energy raw
materials, geothermal energy resource and also gold-base metal, rare earth element
(REE), trona-gypsum, kaolin-feldspar and strontium salts–sodium sulphate deposits.

The minerals sector is one of the leading sectors supplying raw materials to domestic
industry. Turkey possesses the largest resources of most minerals in the world and is
one of the world’s richest countries in minerals. Excluding petroleum and coal there
are 53 exploitable minerals and metals and 4,500 mineral deposits in Turkey.

Turkey’s geology is extremely complex and this complexity is reflected in the diversity
of its mineral deposits. Best known for its industrial minerals, Turkey is a major
producer of boron minerals, feldspar, marble, baryte, celestite (strontium), emery,
limestone, magnesite, perlite and pumice. A wide variety of primary metallic minerals
are produced as well. Copper and chromite are the most significant minerals in the
metals sector. Turkey is a major world producer of processed mineral commodities,
including refined borates and related chemicals, cement, ceramics and glass. In
addition, Turkey is a significant producer of ferrochromium and steel.

Turkey’s land surface is about 814.000 sq.km. half of which is made of Neogen
sediments and Neogen formations covered by sedimentary depositions, basalts and
Tertiary volcanics. Turkey’s old massifs consist of the crystalline and metamorphic
rock groups formed after the strong metamorphism in the Archean and probably
Caledonian geosynclines. These old blocks are covered by more or less crystallizet
marbles of Hercynian orogenic phase and acid magmatic instrusions of the same
period. The metamorphic shales and paragneisses which form the substructure of
Anatolia are of Pre-Cambrian age.

The complex geologic structure of Turkey makes it more difficult for mine exploration
and mining facilities. Despite this, Turkey is one of the few countries which can
provide most of their raw materials. It is the world’s leading producer of boron
mineral, pumice, feldspar and also barite, bentonite, chrome ore, kaolin, lignite and
magnesite. Nearly 60 types of minerals have been produced in Turkey and it is in the
10th place throughout the world according to mineral variety and 28th for its production
of underground resources of 132 countries. Only 13 of all the 90 minerals traded all
over the world do not exist in Turkey. These minerals do not have enough quality and
quantity to be exploited. 50 types of minerals are found adequately but 27 types of
minerals lack the desired quality and reserves for exploration. Moreover, Turkey has
2,5 % of the industrial raw material, 1 % of the coal and 0,8 % of the geothermal and
0,4 % of the metallic mineral reserves of the world. It also has a significant potential
for natural stone and holds the 30 % of known natural stone reserves of the world.
Marble, granite and travertine are all currently being exploited in Turkey (3.8 billion
m3 marble, 2.7 billion m3 travertine and 995 million m3 granite).

Although the complex geologic and tectonic structure of Turkey contributes to mineral
diversity of the country, most of mineral deposits in Turkey are moderate in size.
However, with the increase in raw material prices due to the economic condition in
the world, low graded mineral deposits with technological problems and also buried /
conceptual deposits have gained value. Accordingly, Turkey, which already has an
important place in the world mining industry, has become even more important since
it hosts a great potential for such mineral deposits.

Today 53 different minerals are produced in the Turkish mining sector. Most of the
production is carried out by the private sector. The main producers are Eti
Maden,nTurkish Hard Coal Enterprises (TTK), Turkish Coal Enterprises (TKI) and
private sector companies. The public sector is dominant in fuel minerals and metallic
ore production while the private sector is concentrated in industrial mineral
production.

Mineral products produced approximately 150 million tons a year in Turkey are
commonly used in building industry and as a raw material in other industries
providing 5-6 billion USD per year. Minerals such as boron, chrome, celestite,
magnesite, barite, marble, pumice, feldspar are considerably exported whereas coal,
which is produced approximately 60 million tons a year and is consumed mostly by
thermal power plants in Turkey.

An accurate indicator of the contribution of the mining sector to economy that has
great importance in terms of industrialization and national development is the role of
this sector in the gross national product (GNP). It depends on mineral potentials and
financial capacities of the countries. In developed countries, the parts of the mining
sector as GNP are 4,2 % in the USA, 4,0 % in Germany, 7,5 % in Canada and 8,7 %
in Australia. However, GNP ratios of mining sector in total GNP in Turkey varied from
1 % to 1,5 % between in 2018, mine production of Turkey reached 11-12 billion USD
and total mining production is about 150 million tons per year. Moreover, mining
sector in Turkey constitutes nearly 1,2-1,4 % of GNP.

The import and export values have increased compared to previous years. In 2018,
the revenue from mineral export was nearly 4.25 billon USD and natural stones
constituted the major portion of this amount (near 1,5 billion USD). The other
exported products were metallic (near 1,17 billion USD) and industrial raw materials
(near 530 million USD). On the other hand, mineral import value was nearly 4,5
billion USD and 3.420 billion USD of the total amount was from energy raw materials
(coal).

In 2019, the total mineral export values have increased nearly 2.447 billon USD. As
in previous years, natural stones, especially marble, constitute the major portion of
this amount. While the export value from natural stones was nearly 1,690,859,379
billon USD, the export value from industrial raw materials and metallic minerals were
0.531 and 1.254 billon USD, respectively. On the other hand, mining sector
constitutes only 1,3 % of total GNP in 2019

While the world’s traditional mining markets struggle through the trough of a mining
cycle, Turkey has emerged as a rare story of growth, offering a compelling
jurisdiction to international mining investors in pursuit of friendlier skies. To date, the
country has not shown huge ore deposits of blockbuster potential; rather its key
attractions are economic discoveries ranging across 72 mineral types, situated in an
open playing field with attractive incentives and a growing supplier base to assist in
low cost project execution.

Aiming to become a top 10 global economy by the 100 th anniversary of the Turkish
republic in 2023, Turkey has set its sights on reaching $500 billion in exports, $15
billion of which is earmarked to come from the mineral sector. With this ambitious
goal in mind, the country is looking beyond the state-owned entities and domestic
conglomerates that have largely fueled the industry thus far. Foreign investment will
play a decisive role in meeting this goal, or falling short of the mark.

GEOLOGY OF TURKEY

The geology of Turkey is the product of a wide variety of tectonic processes that have
shaped Anatolia over millions of years, a process which continues today as
evidenced by frequent earthquakes and occasional volcanic eruptions..

Turkey, an important segment of the Alpine-Himalayan tectonic belt, hosts notably

diverse mineral deposits. The complex geologic and tectonic structure of Turkey
makes it more difficult for mine exploration and mining facilities, although it
contributes to mineral diversity of the region. Turkey is one of the few countries which
can provide most of their raw materials in spite of the geological and technological
drawbacks.

Turkey's terrain is structurally complex. A central massif composed of uplifted blocks

and downfolded troughs, covered by recent deposits and giving the appearance of a
plateau with rough terrain, is wedged between two folded mountain ranges that
converge in the east. True lowland is confined to the plain of the Ergene river
in Thrace, extending along rivers that discharge into the Aegean Sea or the Sea of
Marmara, and to a few narrow coastal strips along the Black Sea and Mediterranean
Sea coasts.

Nearly 85% of the land is at an elevation of at least 450 meters; the median altitude
of the country is 1,128 meters. In Asiatic Turkey, flat or gently sloping land is rare and
largely confined to the deltas of the Kızıl River, the coastal plains of Antalya and
Adana, and the valley floors of the Gediz River and the Büyük Menderes River, and
some interior high plains in Anatolia, mainly around Tuz Gölü (Salt Lake) and Konya
Ovası (Konya Basin). Moderately sloping terrain is limited almost entirely outside
Thrace to the hills of the Arabian Platform along the border with Syria.
Figure 1 – Geological Map of Turkey

The earliest geological history of Turkey is poorly understood, partly because these
oldest rocks in the region are involved into younger deformation phases that hindered
their evolution. This created problem of reconstructing how the region has been
tectonically assembled by plate motions. Turkey can be thought of as a collage of
different continental pieces and remnants of oceanic lithospheric rocks amalgamated
together by younger tectonic processes that involve accumulation of igneous (both
plutonic and volcanic) and sedimentary rocks.

Plate tectonics in Turkey: there are geologic faults around the Anatolian Plate,
the African Plate, the Arabian Plate and the Eurasian Plate.

Except for a relatively small portion of its territory along the Syrian border that is a
continuation of the Arabian Plate, Turkey geologically is part of the great Alpine belt
that extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Himalaya Mountains. This belt was
formed during the Cenozoic Era (about 66 to 1.6 million years ago), as the
Arabian, African, and Indian continental plates began to collide with the Eurasian
Plate. This process is still at work today as the African Plate converges with the
Eurasian Plate and the Anatolian Plate escapes towards the west and southwest
along strike-slip faults. These are the North Anatolian Fault Zone, which forms the
present day plate boundary of Eurasia near the Black Sea coast and, the East
Anatolian Fault Zone, which forms part of the boundary of the North Arabian Plate in
the southeast. As a result of this plate tectonics configuration, Turkey is one of the
world's more active earthquake and volcanic regions.

The Anatolian Plate, together with the Aegean-Peloponnesus block, is located near
the centre of a very wide region, including the Arabian Plate with the adjacent Zagros
Mountains and central Iran, that moves in a circulatory pattern at a relatively fast rate
of 20 mm/yr. The rate of this counter-clockwise motion increases near the Hellenic
Trench system south of Turkey and decreases away from it (i.e. the Eurasian and
African plates move at a rate of 5 mm/yr), resulting in internal deformations in several
areas, including central and eastern Anatolia, south-western Aegean-Peloponnesus,
Lesser Caucasus, and central Iran. The dominant process in the region is the
subduction of the African Plate beneath the Hellenic Trench, and the deformation in
the entire African-Arabian-Eurasian collision zone is most likely driven by the slab
roll-back of the subducting African Plate in the East Mediterranean. This process is
further fuelled by slab-pull forces in the Makran Trench in the Gulf of Oman where the
Arabian Plate is subducting under Eurasia. A response to this tectonic maelstrom is
the rifting in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden which will separate Arabia from Africa.

The tomography of the velocity propagation distributions of the P_ n seismic

waves both in an isotropic and anisotropic conditions, compared with the lateral
variations of that velocity has highlighted the physical properties of the uppermost
mantle and crustal thickness of the Earth. A study analyzed 700 earthquakes
occurred in Turkey from 1999 to 2010 with magnitude degree major than 4.0 and the
related 50.000 Pn first arrivals recorded by 832 seismic stations at a distance range
of 180-1500 kms from the epicenter. The tomography highlighted that "Pn velocities
are found to be lowest in eastern Turkey (<7.6 km s-1) and highest in the eastern
Mediterrannean Sea and Zagros Suture (>8.3 km s-1). Large Pn anisotropy is
observed in the Aegean, central Anatolia and along the southern coast of Anatolia.
Large crustal thicknesses are observed along the Dinarides-Hellenides and along the
southern coast of Anatolia."

Many of the rocks exposed in Turkey were formed long before this process began.
Turkey contains outcrops of Precambrian rocks, (more than 540 million years old).
During the Mesozoic era (about 250 to 66 million years ago) a large ocean (Tethys
Ocean), floored by oceanic lithosphere existed in-between the supercontinents of
Gondwana and Laurasia (which lay to the south and north respectively). This large
oceanic plate was consumed at subduction zones. At the subduction trenches the
sedimentary rock layers that were deposited within the prehistoric Tethys Ocean
were folded, faulted and tectonically mixed with huge blocks of crystalline basement
rocks of the oceanic lithosphere. These blocks form a very complex mixture or
melange of rocks that include mainly serpentinite, basalt, dolerite and chert. The
Eurasian margin, now preserved in the Pontides (the Pontic Mountains along the
Black Sea coast), is thought to have been geologically similar to the Western Pacific
region today. Volcanic arcs and back-arc basins formed and were emplaced onto
Eurasia as ophiolites as they collided with microcontinents (literally relatively small
plates of continental lithosphere). These microcontinents had been pulled away from
the Gondwanan continent further south. Turkey is therefore made up from several
different prehistorical microcontinents. ]

During the Cenozoic (Tertiary about 66 to 1.6 million years) folding, faulting and
uplifting, accompanied by volcanic activity and intrusion of igneous rocks was related
to major continental collision between the larger Arabian and Eurasian plates.

Turkey's most severe earthquake in the twentieth century occurred in Erzincan on the
night of 1939-12-27; it devastated most of the city and caused an estimated 30,000
deaths. Earthquakes of moderate intensity often continue with sporadic aftershocks
over periods of several days or even weeks. Seismicity in Turkey is more likely to
happen in the North Anatolian Fault Zone, East Anatolian Fault Zone and in the
subduction region of the Aegeaa Plate between the Anatolian plate.
MINERAL DEPOSITS OF TURKEY

Mining may well have been the second of humankind’s earliest endeavors-granted
that agriculture was the first. The two industries ranked together as the primary or
basic industries of early civilizations were and still are the main sources of raw
materials. Throughout history, mining has continued to make great contributions to
the social and economical welfare of several societies which explains the
identification of several cultural eras by various minerals or by their derivatives: the
Stone Age (prior to 4.000 BCE), the Bronze Age (4.000 to 5.000 BCE), the Iron Age
(1500 BCE to 1780 CE), the Steel Age (1780 to 1945) and the Nuclear Age (1945 to
the present). Therefore, human culture is bound to the availability of minerals and
metals, and our prehistoric ancestors depended on mining just as we do today.

Nowadays, several sectors (as construction, manufacturing, transport and industrial

activities) totally depend on acknowledged raw materials and are easily influenced by
their deficiency or any increment in their prices. Beside these common resources, the
last few decades have been marked by a primary attention towards relatively scarce
and uncommon mineral resources as Rare earth elements (REEs) and conflict
minerals. These materials play a decisive role in keeping up with the non-stop
technological revolution and allow achieving the complex functions of the new
technological inventions. In fact, Germanium (Ge) used in fiber optic systems, Indium
employed in LCD displays, Rare earth elements (REEs) which are essential for
batteries, fertilizers, medical tracers, the automobile industry, water treatment and
electronics together with conflict minerals as Tin, Tantalum, Tungsten and Gold
utilized for GPS systems in vehicles, airplane instruments and medical equipments
are gaining an increasing significance on a day-by-day basis.

A summary of Turkey’s known mineral deposits indicating their main regions of

mineralization is given, where fifty seven minerals are listed. Over twelve metallic and
forty industrial minerals were mined in Turkey in 2017. Among metallic ores chromite
deposits may be considered important worldwide because of their higher chrome iron
ratio and borate deposits are probably the largest known deposits in the world.
Comperatively moderate value industrial mineral deposits such as marble,
magnesite, dolomite, rock salt, cement raw materials, glass and ceramics minerals,
refractory clays, zeolites deposits are very large in size. Other moderataly large
deposits are copper, lead-zinc in metals, alumina minerals, bentonites, perlite,
pumice, celestite, sodium sulphate and trona in industrial minerals. Hardcoal, crude
oil and natural gas resources are limited, lignites, even though present proven
deposits are limited have a large potential.

It is generally accepted that private sector rarely invest money for mineral exploration
except when it is essential for the safeguard of the production of the ensueing year.
Production and exploration activities are generally carried out together. As a result
the proven ore reserves of even minerals well established in export markets, except
borate deposits well explored by the public sector, are very limited. Mineral deposits
such as heavy metals which require high fixed investment for production are
generally well explored to safeguard the investment risk.

A very large share of Turkey’s investment in minerals exploration has been

undertaken by the state through Mineral Research and Exploration Institute (MTA)
and Etibank after their establishment under Law in 1935. Oil and natural gas
exploration since mid fifties has been undertaken largely by foreign companies and
Turkish Petroleum Corporation. The discovery of very large oil and natural gas
deposits in Turkey is generally considered not to be probable. A very large share of
MTA’s fixed expenditure for mining is confined to geological studies and surface
prospecting, expenditure for detailed mineral deposits development being limited.

Turkey’s mineral deposits are concentrated in Mesozoic and Tertiary. Hardcoal basin
in Zonguldak and Kastamonu provinces, wolframite deposit in Bursa, iron bearing
phosphate deposits in Bitlis Massif in Eastern Turkey are in Palaezoic. Lignite
deposits are found in all geological eras from Devoinien through lower Quarternary,
being more concentrated in Tertiary. Borates, salt and trona are other important
minerals found in Tertiary.

INDUSTRIAL MINERALS

Turkey is rich in industrial minerals which is reflected in the mondial production data.
In 2016, Turkey was a major producer of Boron, Perlite, feldspar, magnesite,
bentonite, gypsum and anyhdrite. In the same year, Turkey earned the title of the first
world producer of boron (1.831.000 tons), perlite (1.066.251 tons) and feldspar
(9.475.819 tons) by ensuring respectively 42,48 %, 38,82 % and 31,73 % of the
mondial production of these minerals. Within the objective of empowering its position
in the global market, Turkey plans to cover 59 % of the boron market by producing
2,35 million tons of boron by the end of 2018.

In addition, in 2016 Turkey was the second world producer of magnesite after China
by producing 3.258.445 tons i.e. 12,53 % of the mondial production. Furthermore,
Turkey was the third World producer of bentonite (1.744.912 tons) which represented
10,87 % of the mondial production. The statistics also highlighted that producing
10.124.221 tons of gypsum and anhydrite (5,8 % of the mondial production) granted
Turkey the 5th place in the production of these minerals after respectively, China,
USA, Iran and Thailand. Turkey was also the 7 th world producer of Baryte (3,52 % of
the mondial production) and 8 th world producer of Diatomite and kaolin which
represented respectively 3,18 % and 3,29 % of the mondial production.

In 2016, Turkey was also ranked 9 th in the production of talk (2,71 %), 12 th in the
production of salt (1,93 %), 11th in the production of vermiculite (0,24 %), 15 th in the
production of Fluorspar (0,17 %), 19 th in the production of zirconium (0,04 %), 21 st in
the production of phosphate (0,28 %) and finally 41st in the production of sulfure (0,11
%). However, no production of graphite was reported neither in 2015 nor in 2016.

BORON

Boron minerals are natural compounds that contain different proportions of boron
oxide (B2O3) in their structure. The boron minerals commonly found in Turkey; tinkal,
colemanite and ulexite. Boron products are used in chemistry, materials, agriculture,
construction, nuclear energy, defense industry, cleaning, healthcare. Concentrated
boron products can also be consumed in these sectors, although regular boron
products are used. Approximately 80 % of boron products consumed worldwide are
concentrated in the glass, ceramic, agriculture and detergent-cleaning sectors.
Turkey is the leader country that performs the production of the refined boron
products.

Turkey possesses two third of the world’s borate reserves and has 67 % of world
boron reserve with 883 million ton on the basis of B 203. (This ratio is about 72 % if
approximate 102 million tons B203 reserve of Satimola boron deposits located in
Kazakhstan is not taken into account). Recent boron exploration project showed that
the boron reserves in the Bigadiç, Emet, Kırka, Kestelek boron basin are about 3
billion tons much more than the earlier estimates. With this increase Turkey now
possesses 72 % of the world boron reserves.

Table 1 - Boron Reserves in Turkey

Place Reserve(ton)
Bigadiç, Balıkesir 623.458.710
Emet, Kütahya 1.682.561.602
Kestelek, Bursa 6.994.525
Kırka, Eskişehir 750.620.373
Total Reserve 3.063.635.210
Source: Eti Maden İşletmeleri Genel Müdürlügü

Boron is the most abundant mineral and Turkey has 72 % of all the world reserves.
Nearly 3 million tons of boron is produced in Bursa-Kestelek, Balıkesir-Bigadiç,
Kütahya-Emet and Eskişehir-Kırka regions. In 2018, boron products of 400 million
USD were exported. 117 million USD of it came from ores and concentrations. About
72 % of borate production is exported and remained is consumed domestically.
Boron production is exported as mainly concentrate. However a lesser amount is
converted refined boron products. In total, 57.669.60 meter drill programs in 180
different location were completed as part of boron exploration project which has been
carried out by MTA and Eti Mine since 2018. Totally, 8.846.65 m boron-rich zone was
detected in 99 locations via the drilling programs carried out between 2009 and 2018.

Turkey is the leader exporter of the mineral in the world. The mining, production and
marketing rights of the boron mineral was given to the Eti Maden İşletmeleri. Eti
Maden produce colemanite, ulexite and tincal concentrates as well as refinery
products as; Etibor48, borax decahydrate, boric acid and anhydrous borax and
supply these to the World markets.

Important boron deposits are located in Turkey, the US, Russia and South America.
The known boron mineral deposits of Turkey are in located in Eskişehir-Kırka,
Kütahya-Emet, Bursa-Kestelek and Balıkesir-Bigadiç. In order to clearly demonstrate
our boron potential, reserve development studies are continuing within the scope of
Bigadiç Master Project (BİGMAP). The consumption of boron products in the world is
about 3.7 million tons and nearly 56 % of world boron demand has been met by
Turkey in 2019. Turkey refined boron production capacity is 2.7 million tons and by
the end of 2019, 2.04 million tons was produced.

Turkey is among the countries with the world’s boron reserves with 3.3 billion tons of
boron reserves. When the boron reserves of other countries are analyzed, Russia
and the USA have 40 million tons of boron reserves and Chile has 35 million tons of
boron reserves. The studies carried out are that products with boron content will
appear more in the coming periods. In this context, R&D and laboratory studies
continue in order to obtain high-tech materials from boron products in Turkey; Studies
to establish a Boron Research Center (BAM) are ongoing.

Turkey is one of the important boron exporting countries. Boron products sales
amounted to approximately 2.06 million tons in quantity and $ 820 million in value
basis in 2019. When only boric acid average prices are analyzed, a continuous
increase is observed in the five-year period. With the increase in demand for boron
products, this figure is estimated to be 762 $/ton in 2023 price projection. Among the
countries in which we export boron are China, USA, Russia and India. Turkey, in
order to strengthen its position in the global market in 2020 58 % market share is like
target price.

Boron Carbide product, which is used in different fields such as armor materials,
nuclear applications, wear-resistant machinery and ceramic parts production in
military purposes, is used in Bandırma by using boron products such as boric acid
and boron oxide, which Turkey has been successfully producing for many years.
Balıkesir) The foundation of the Boron Carbide Production facility was laid in
Bandırma Boron Operation Directorate on 2019 and the activities for its construction
continue.

TRONA

Ankara-Beypazarı is the most important trona deposit of Turkey. It is the second

largest natural trona deposit of the world with its 233 million tons of reserves. Besides
this, in Ankara-Kazan, there is another trona deposit with 603 million tons of reserve
owned by a foreign company. The total reserves of Beypazarı and Kazan deposits
are nearly 836 million tons.

The project, which will process the trona mine and turn it into natural soda ash and
run by a private company, was completed on 2009 and opened for operation in the
district of Beypazarı in Ankara. In these facilities, an investment of approximately 375
million dollars was realized and approximately 2 million tons of trona are processed
annually; 1 million tons of natural soda ash, 100 thousand tons of sodium
bicarbonate and 30 thousand tons of caustic soda are obtained. Turkey meet the
needs of its own production of trona and a major part of the production is exported.

CEMENT AND OTHER BUILDING MATERIALS

The cement industry uses almost 65 million tons of raw materials per year. Turkey
has an abundance of chalk, clay, marl, gypsum and trass as the main raw material of
cement. Pumice used as light building material and concrete aggregate has a
potential of 1.5 billion m3 reserves, and export is approximately 15 million USD.
Perlite potential is 5.68 billion tons. Nevertheless, production and import levels
remain low.

Turkey in 2019 about 57 million tons of cement production was down 21,.5 %
compared to the previous year. Regionally, the highest decrease was in Central
Anatolia with 28,3 % and the lowest decrease was in the Mediterranean Region with
15 %. The decrease in clinker production was 17,8 %. The main reason for the
decrease in clinker production compared to cement was the increase in clinker
exports. Therefore, both cement and clinker data should be evaluated together.

In 2019, 45.4 million tons of cement were sold in the domestic market. There was a
29,4 % decrease compared to the previous year. This decrease is greater than the
decrease in cement production. Therefore, it can be easily said that the domestic
market is more negative and the foreign market is more positive for 2019. Domestic
sales decreased the most in the Marmara Region with 37 % and at least in the South
East Anatolia Region with 17 %. In 2019, cement production capacity reached 143.7
million tons with an increase of approximately 3 million tons compared to the previous
year. Clinker production capacity reached 91.6 million tons with an increase of
approximately 2 million tons. In 2019, cement capacity utilization was 41,6 % and
clinker capacity utilization was 67,2 %. In the previous year, these data were 53,4 %
and 82,9 %, respectively. While the capacity was increasing, there was a serious
decrease in the usage rate. Marmara Region stands out in terms of capacity
utilization rate.

MARBLE and NATURAL STONES

Turkey, which has a rich potential in terms of natural stone and geological structure,
has 4 billion m3 of operable marble, 2.8 billion m3 of operable travertine and 1 billion
m3 of granite reserves. According to these values, Turkey has almost 40 % of world
natural stone reserves.

Turkey main natural stone types consist of crystalline limestone (marble), limestone,
travertine formed limestone (onyx), conglomerate, breccia and magmatic origin rocks
(granite, syenite, diabase, diorite, serpentine, etc.) in various colors and patterns.
Natural stones are used in Turkey and in the world for decorative purposes and
building materials.

In terms of natural stones, and especially marble, Turkey has sample resources since
it is located in the Alpine mountain range. Turkey has been one of the oldest marble
producers in the world dating back to 4.000 years production on the Marmara Island.
Turkey has immense reserves of marble, travertine, onyx, conglomerate, breccias
and magmatic rock. Turkey’s total marble reserves are estimated to be ranging from
5.2 billions m3 which equals to approximately 13.9 billions of tons. Turkey has an
exploitable deposits of 3.8 billions m3 marble; the same figureis 2.7 billions m3 for
travertine and 995 millions m3 for granite.

Marble production is made in almost all countries in the world, and the countries that
show development in this field come to the fore with the variety and visuality of the
stone. For this reason, China, Italy and Turkey stand out in the world marble markets.

Turkey has large marble reserves which include a wide range of colors. Among the
more than 100 varieties of Turkish marble, marbles having shades ranging from very
light gray to black and brilliant white are available in Turkey.
Figure 3 -Distribution of Natural Stone Production by Country

Turkey, marble reserves have been determined in over 80 different structures and
over 120 different colors and patterns. Afyon, Balıkesir, Denizli, Tokat, Bilecik, Muğla,
Eskişehir and Çanakkale are the cities where reserves and marble enterprises are
concentrated. With the investments made in recent years, it has joined among these
provinces in Diyarbakır. Turkey’s Supra among the most well-known varieties of
marble in the international markets, Elazıg Cherry, Aksehir Black, Manyas White,
Bilecik Beige, Tigerskin, Denizli Travertine, Aegean Bordeaux, Milas Lilac, Gemlik
Diabase and Afyon Sugar is counted.

According to data from MIGEM (The General Directorate of Mining Affairs),

production of natural stones has an upward trend in Turkey. Andesite, basalt, marble
and travertine are main products in Turkish stone industry. Recently granite has been
widely used in Turkey. Turkey has extensive granite reserves around Ordu, Rize,
Trabzon, Balıkesir, Kırklareli, Bolu, Kırşehir, Izmit, Çanakkale and Izmir.

In the marble sector, there are 1.717 marble operating licenses (marble quarries),
approximately 2.000 small and medium-sized factories and 9.000 workshops and
approximately 300.000 people are employed. Almost all of the production is done by
the private sector. about 16.5 million tons in 2018 in Turkey are made of natural
stone production.

Turkey ranks third in the world marble export after China and Italy. In 2009,
especially in the export of marble and travertine, China was the country that made
the most exports, leaving Italy and Spain behind. Turkey is among the countries that
export the most marble to the world’s largest marble (block or processed) importers
such as China, India and the USA. Until 2011, the Middle East countries were an
important market for Turkey’s marble sector, but political and political instability and
war environment prevented the development of this market. However, marbles
produced in Turkey are introduced in international fairs and exhibitions and find new
markets.

FELDSPAR

Turkey possess 10 % of total world feldspar reserves. Turkey’s feldspar reserves are
estimated to be 239 million tons (visible+potential). Important feldspar reserves are
located in Manisa-Demirci, Kutahya-Simav, Aydın Çine and Mugla-Milas.

The rise in world production of white body tile and granito tile has increased the
demand for feldspar. Turkish producers are now competing in the domestic and
international markets to supply this material. Most of the feldspar is produced by the
private sector and 90 % of the production is exported.

In 2019, our Feldspar exports decreased by 4,89 % in amount compared to the same
period of the previous year, while in value with an increase of 4,71 %, it was realized
as 6.35 million tons equivalent to 214.34 million dollars. In our feldspar exports, Spain
ranks first with 72,551,088 dollars (10,06 % increase), followed by 71,497,447. Italy
comes with $ 10,732,153 (increase 31,12 %) and the Russian Federation with $
10,732,153 (decrease 3,7 %). Egypt, respectively. The Netherlands is followed by the
United States.

MAGNESITE

Turkey’s magnesite reserves are about 168.4 million tons. Most of these reserves are
concentrated in Konya-Kutahya-Eskisehir triangle. In addition some reserves are
located in Erzincan and Canakkale.

Raw magnesite, dead burned and caustic calcined magnesite are produced in
Turkey. Several small companies also produces raw magnesite. Some of them
provide raw magnesite to the large domestic deadburned magnesite producers or to
the ceramic industry, while others export their products. Magnesite is exported as raw
magnesite, calcined, sintered and burned. Magnesite is also exported as bricks which
are used in the iron-steel industry.

Exports of commodity “Natural magnesium carbonate (magnesite); fused magnesia;

dead-burned (sintered) magnesia, whether or not containing small quantities of other
oxides added before sintering; other magnesium oxide, whether or not pure.”
amounted to 0.045 % of total exports from Turkey (cumulative merchandise exports
from Turkey totalled $ 180 billion in 2019). The share of commodity group 2519 in
total exports from Turkey decreased by 0.032 p.p. compared to 2018 (it was 0.078%
in 2018 and cumulative exports from Turkey were equal to $ 168 billion).

PUMICE

Turkey’s proven, probable and possible pumice reserves are about 2.8 billion m3.
The present reserves in Turkey are concentrated in Central Anatolia, especially in the
Urgup Avanos and TalasTamarza Develi district of Kayseri. It is also found in the
Bitlis, Van, Agrı and Kars districts of Eastern Anatolia, Nigde, Konya, Ankara, Isparta
and Mugla.

The total value of Turkey’s pumice exports was US$ 14 million. China, the
Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus and the
UAE were important pumice markets in 2019. In 2018 Turkey ranked 3 rd in pumice
exports in the world with a share of 6.8 %.

BARYTE

Turkey possess 26 million tons of baryte which is about 2,1 % of the total world
reserves. These reserves include good quality baryte whether ground, crude or
micronized. The largest share of Turkish baryte production is sold to oil drillers.
Important baryte deposits are located in Konya, Maras, Mus, Antalya and Kutahya.

Being located near the most important consumers of barytes, Turkey has a good
opportunity to export baryte products. In 2019, Iraq, Egypt, Ukraine and Azerbaijan
were the major markets for Turkish barytes.

BENTONITE AND KAOLIN

Turkey’s bentonite reserves are 370 million tons. The production of ground bentonite
has been rising steadily during the last 20 years. At present Turkey is a net exporter
of bentonite. Known bentonite deposits are found in Edirne-Enez, Çankırı, Tokat-
Reşadiye, Ankara-Kalecik and Giresun-Tirebolu. Bentonite production and
exports have increased in the 1990’s and reached US$ 47 million in 2015. Bentonite
exports were mainly directed to Germany, the Netherlands, France and Italy.

Known kaolin reserves are in the Balıkesir village district of Marmara region,
Nevsehir, Nigde, Bolu, Canakkale and East Black Sea region. Turkey’s probable
kaolin reserves are about 100 million tons. In 2019, the total export value of kaolin
was US$ 2 million. Tunisia, Lebanon, Syria, Greece and Italy ranked as top markets
in 2019.

PERLITE

Over half of the perlite reserves of the world are in Turkey. Turkey’s possible perlite
reserves are about 4.5 billion tons. The most important perlite reserves are found in
Cumaovası, Manisa, Biga, Soma, Izmir, Dikili, Konya and Erzincan. In 2018, the
majör destinations for perlite were Spain, Belgium, Italy, India and Brasil.

CALCITE

Calcium carbonate rocks are spread throughout the world, which is why they have
been among the most widely used raw materials for more than 5.000 years. Turkey
has 40 % of world calcite reserves. According to private sector representatives, in
recent years calcite exports have increased significantly. Niğde, Çanakkale,
Bayramiç, Biga, Ezine, Balıkesir, Trakya, Bursa, İzmir, Muğla are the major locations
for calcite reserves.
RARE EARTH ELEMENTS

Turkey, search and technology studies in the field of REE have accelerated recently,
similar to the world. In this context, the construction of a pilot plant for the operation
of basnazite ore in
Eskisehir-Beylikova by
Eti Mining Operations is
ongoing. Exploration
studies of MTA in
Malatya, Burdur and
Isparta are ongoing.

In addition, Rare Earth

Elements Research
Institute (NATEN) was
established in order to
monitor and encourage
research in the field of
REE in Turkey. NATEN
started to continue their
activities in the new
established Turkey
Power, Nuclear and
Mining Research
Institute (TENMAK)
since 2020.

CERAMIC AND GLASS RAW MATERIALS

The main raw materials of the sector are quartz, quartzite, silica sand, feldspar, clay
and kaolin. Turkey ranks in the 3rd place in ceramic production in the EU and 6 th in
the world. The abundance of the country’s raw material sources is the main reason
for it. Turkey has 89 million tons of kaolin, 354 million tons of ceramic and refractor
clay, 1.3 billion tons of silica sand and 2.3 billion tons of quartz-quartzite. The
production capacity of Turkey in ceramic is 180 million m2 per year.

The glass sector also shows great development. The sector uses 1.4 million tons of
silica sand per year. Glass raw materials have great potential; nevertheless, the
production and export have not reached the desired level because of the lack of
grinding and enrichment facilities. In ceramic and glass sector, good quality clay,
kaolin, feldspar, and silica sand are imported.

A very large part of the industry is owned by the private capital. KÜMAS is privatized.
The plants at Konya and Zonguldak-Filyos are to be privatized in 1997. Turkey is a
net importer of silicate and basic bricks and mortars and an net exporter of
construction materials and ceramics. Ceramics production is mostly owned by private
companies, annual capacity being about 2 million tons. Most of the production is
concentrated at sea of Marmara and Agean regions.
METALS IN TURKEY

The chromite production of Turkey has increased significantly in recent years. The
2005 production figure is 1.6 million tons. With their high grade, chromite reserves in
Turkey are worldwide scale. Turkey’s total chromite reserves are estimated as 26
million tons of over 20 % grade. In the chromite sector, too many small private
companies are dominated the production. Public entities, Eti Krom and Eti
Elektrometalurji, has privatized recently and there are no public productions in the
sector any more.

The only state owned copper entity, Eti Bakır, has also privatized recently. However,
the copper production has come to a standstill despite global high copper demand.
Iron ore in Turkey is consumed domestically and far from meeting the home demand.

Turkey has approximately 340 tons of gold reserve and world’s famous gold
companies’ interest in this subsector has been high during the last decade. The gold
production has been approximately 10 tons in 2006. Although, there are only two
gold mines (Bergama-Ovacık and Uşak-Kışladağ) are in operation today, too many
gold feasibility studies and exploration programs are underway in Turkey.

Copper-Lead-Zinc deposits are found along the inland Black Sea Regions (Murgul-
Damar, Akarsen and Cakmakkaya Mines; Espiye-Kızılkaya, Lahanos and Killik
Mines; Of, Katarokdere Mine; Tirebolu, Harkoy Mine), Kastamonu (Kure Mine), Rize
(Çayeli Mine), Artvin (Cerattepe mine), Thrace (Karatepe; low Cu-Mo deposit; 200 m
tons) South of Marmara Sea (porphyry copper deposits), Erzurum (Ulutas 0.2 % Cu
deposit); S. Eastren Turkey (Ergani Mine) and Siirt (Madenkoy deposit, 14 m tons
Cu: 3 %). Lead and Zinc deposits are mainly in Balıkesir (Balya Mine); Çanakkale
(Yenice Mines), Yozgat (Akdag Maden); Nigde (Bolkardag), Adana (Horzum),
Kayseri (Aladag); Sivas (Koyulhisar ve Aktepe Mines). Two main iron ore
metallogenic regions are in Sivas (Divrigi Mine), Malatya (Deveci and Karakuz
mines), Kayseri, Maras, Adana (Attepe mine) provinces.

Chromite deposits are found in ultrabasic rock formations covered by host rock
peridotite and are situated along the Alpine orogenic zones. Chromite has been
mined in Turkey at Harmancık, Bursa first in 1848. Deposits are largely podiform and
found in about 40 provinces of Turkey. Major mineralizations are concentrated in
Elazıg (Guleman). Erzincan (Kopdagı), Maras-Adana, Eskisehir, Kütahya, Denizli,
Mugla, and Bursa provinces. Few of these deposits are well explored.

Gold deposits, workable reserves are 76.6 tons gold content, the largest deposits
being found in Ovacyk, Bergama owned by Eurogold Ltd. Kaymaz deposit west of
Ankara and Küçükdere deposit SE of Edremit, both owned by a Turkish subsidiary of
Gencor of South Africa. Potential gold reserves are estimated to be 17 tons and
heavy metals associated reserves 42 tons. In 1992 eight foreign companies had 493
mining permits to explore gold in Turkey.

Three types of aluminium minerals are found in Turkey; boehmite bauxite in

Seydisehir Konya where Etibank’s aluminium operations are situated, diasporite in
Mugla province and iron rich bauxite in Iskenderun-Hatay provinces.
IRON

Turkey has nearly 900 iron deposits, whereas only 31 of them are in exploitable
condition or some of them are currently being exploited. The annually total iron ore
production ranges from 3.9 to 4.5 million ton in Turkey. However, iron resources of
Turkey can supply the demand of the country only for the next 10 years. Turkey’s
annual iron need is around 10 million tons and half of this is supplied by import. Thus,
Turkey currently needs iron ore. For this reason, effective exploration programs for
iron ore should be planned and production should be increased.

500 of these deposits were examined in detail and were genetically subdivided into 6
types; contact metasomatic (Kayseri, Erzincan, Malatya), hydrothermal metasomatic
(Adana-Feke), volcano-sedimentary (Malatya, Balıkesir), marine-sedimentary
(Sakarya), lateritic (Sivas-Eskişehir) and placer deposits (Sivas).

Turkey’s iron reserves areconcentrated in Sivas, Malatya, Bingöl, Adana and Kayseri
regions. In addition to these ores, there are iron ore reserves in different sizes in
Ankara, Balıkesir and Adapazarı regions, and the produced ore is used in cement
plants. Turkey meets approximately one-third of its own production of iron
consumption. Turkey’s total iron reserve is nearly 150 million tons with 50-55 % Fe
and Turkey can produce 4-4.5 million tons of iron ore per year. However, Turkey has
nearly 1.5 billion tons problematic iron ore reserves.

Turkish steel production showed third yearly drop in 2015. On the other hand, global
steel production fell for the first time in 2015 after the sharp drop during the global
financial crisis in 2009. According to the World Steel Association’s data, in 2015
world crude steel production fell 2.8 % from 1.67 billion tons to 1.62 billion tons. While
production dropped in all the regions, among all the 15 steel making countries, only
India’s steel production grew. Aside from India, the other 14 steelmaking countries
experienced decrease in production, however, Ukraine’s production rates suffered
the most declining by -15.6%, USA followed with -10.5%. After Ukraine and USA,
with -7.4 % production drop rate Turkey was the third country to have largest decline
in steel production. Because of the sharp fall in production, Turkey lost its position in
the world’s largest steelmaking countries list and dropped to 9th rank from 8th.

COPPER

Turkey’s proven copper reserves are about 3.7 million tons metal copper, total
reserves are 15.8 million tons. Turkey has three important copper reserves; the East
Black Sea, Southeast Anatolia and thrace. Rods, profiles and cables are the most
important export products in the sector. Turkey’s copper ore exports were US$ 284
million in 2017. The main buyers were China, Finland, Sweden and India.

According to the data of 2018 in Turkey, the total production of copper ore was 6,6
million tons. While the export of copper ore and enriched copper ore in Turkey has
been on a downward trend since 2015, it exported approximately 188 thousand tons
in 2019, amounting 57 % more than in the previous year. Copper mines in
Kastamonu-Küre, Artvin-Murgul, Rize-Çayeli are the main copper producing
enterprises in Turkey. In Samsun Smelter and Electrolysis Facility, blister and rainer
copper are produced.
Main operating companies are Black Sea Copper Operations Co. KBI, Ankara;
ETIBANK (Ankara); Çayeli Copper Operations Co. (Ankara) annual production
capacities are about 5.2 m tons ore, 380.000 tons Cu concentrate, 85.000 tons zinc
concentrate and 620 tons pyrite concentrate. KBI also owns and operate Samsun
Flash (copper) Smelter (capacity 39 000 tons blister copper) and sulphuric acid plant
(capacity 120.000 tons). Copper refineries annual capacites are 137.000 tons in
Marmara Sea area, 36.000 tons in Denizli, Kayseri and Ankara, (MKEK, 4.000 tons
which is state owned). All other refineries are private owned.

In 2019, our copper ore exports were 55,32 % in amount and 42,7 % in value
compared to the same period of the previous year. by increasing the rate of 185.500
tons, it was realized as 172,89 million dollars. While Bulgaria ranks first in our copper
ore exports with $ 82,819,100 (56,17 % increase), The People’s Republic of China
comes with $ 75,444,822 (increase 103.92 %) and Malaysia with $ 5,977,423
(decrease 34,04 %). These countries are respectively followed by Serbia, Namibia
and Romania.

BAUXITE

Bauxite deposits in Turkey are located in Silifke-Taşucu, Zonguldak-Kokaksu,

Islahiye-Payas, Yalvac-Şarkikaraagac, Milas-Mugla, Alanya, İcel-Bolkardag,
Tufanbeyli-Saimbeyli regions. In these deposits; Seydisehir-Akseki, Silifke-Tasucu
and Zonguldak depoists are boehmitic type, Islahiye-Payas, Yalvaç-Sarkikaraagac
depoists are iron-bauxite type and Milas-Mugla, Alanya, İcel-Bolkardagı, Tufanbeyli-
Saimbeyli deposits are diasporitic type. The bauxite reserves are about 87 million
tons. These reserves are suitable for aluminum production. Moreover, Turkey holds
the 0.4 % of world bauxite reserves and 0.3 % of annual production of the world.
Besides aluminum production, bauxite is also used in the production of cement with
alumina. The bauxite reserves of Turkey are enough for nearly 60 years, but the
modernization and production capacities of the current facilities should be improved.

Turkey’s only integrated aluminum factory capable of manufacturing up to final

product and metal from the ore from which aluminum obtained Eti Aluminum Co., the
region in which it operates and continues to work in Turkey by contributing to the
economy. The facility, whose modernization work continues, has been built from the
beginning with an investment of 580 million dollars since its privatization. In the
closing stages of the meat, which at the time of privatization Aluminum Co., Konya
Seydisehir businesses, today meets 10 % of Turkey’s aluminum needs.

Eti Alüminyum, AS whose production capacity was increased to 82 thousand tons

thanks to the new technology that was put into use in the middle of 2015, providing
approximately 15 % energy efficiency in the renewal process. By processing 550,000
mt/year of bauxite ore, it can produce 260,000 mt/year of aluminum oxide (alumina)
by using 400,000 mt/year of aluminum hydroxide and its own production of aluminum
hydroxide in addition to 160,000 mt of cast products. In the facility, aluminum ingot, t-
ingot, round ingot, flat ingot, alloy ingot, hot rolled coil, plate, strip etc. products are
produced and sold.
CHROMITE

Chrome mining started in 1850 in Turkey, which has taken an important place in
world chrome mining since then. Chrome deposits are genetically Alpine type and
this type of deposits are defined as small volume with high grade mineralizations.
Deposits related to the ophiolitic rock types and mineralizations are located in the top
and bottom of ophiolitic sequences. Chrome deposits in Turkey are geographically
clustered in 6 different regions. These are Elazıg-Guleman comes first in production
and Sivas-Erzincan, Erzincan-Erzurum, Kopdag, Bursa, Kütahya, Mersin, Adana,
Kayseri and Muğla, Denizli.

Turkey is a country rich in chromium deposits. The main chrome deposits in Turkey,
which have many chrome deposits, are located in Fethiye, Köycegiz (Mugla),
Guleman (Elâzıg), Kop Mountain (Bayburt), Mersin and Kayseri, between Balıkesir
and Eskisehir, between Iskenderun and Kahramanmaras. Turkey, among the world’s
most chrome-producing countries, is exporting a portion of the chromium production.
In Turkey, the factories that process chrome are located in Elâzıg and Antalya.

Turkey is an important country in the chrome production. The main competitors in this
market are in Turkey, Kazakhstan and India. Turkish chromite ores; since metal is
easily reduced by carbon, its metal recovery efficiency is high, it can be used in direct
ferro chrome production as a trough, it is possible to produce quality metal (FeCr)
due to its low silica content, it provides less high dust/pollination due to its high Cr/Fe
ratio and it provides a market advantage due to the fact that the slag is easily
workable. Therefore, some of FeCr products can be sold in niche market where
quality products are sold.

In 2019, our exports of chrome ores were 10,57 % in quantity and 27,13 % in value
compared to the same period of the previous year. by showing a decrease of 1.29
million tons, it was realized as 223.88 million dollars. While the People’s Republic of
China ranked first with $ 142,178,172 (35.94 % decrease) in our chrome ores
exports, Sweden follows with $ 52,148,533 (3.16 % increase) and the Russian
Federation with $ 12,250,567 (up 13.98 %). These countries are respectively
followed by Belgium, Japan and Ukraine.

In 2019, our Ferro Chrome exports increased by 1.37 % in amount compared to the
same period of the previous year, while in value With a decrease of 19.27 %, it was
realized as 166,08 million dollars corresponding to 104,853 tons. Holland ranks first
in Ferro Chrome exports with $ 25,338,680 (26.06 % decrease), after this country
Italy comes with $ 21,962,960 (decrease 21.53%) and Belgium with $ 20,558,029
(increase 88.72 %). These countries respectively Japan, Slovenia and the United
States followed.

Turkey has a 6 % share in world chromite mining and possess 25 million tons of
reserves. Ferrochromium is the most important product in production and exports.
The majority of Turkey’s chromite production has been consumed, by the
ferrochromium industry. In 2017 Turkey ranked 3 rd in chromite exports in the world
with a share of 12,8 %.
In recent years, South Africa, Turkey ranks fourth in the world market with the
introduction of chromium chromium Kazakhstan and India. Turkey is exporting
chrome that it produces. Also; Turkey instead of being an exporter of raw ore rivals
as mentioned above, the exchange provides the raw ore exports by exporting semi-
finished and finished products should aim to increase 3-5 times.

GOLD

Turkey’s potential gold reserves are 6.500 tons. 700 tons of this is ready for
processing. Recent exploration activities have also indicated increased reserves of
gold. The major locations for gold (metal) production are Bergama-Ovacık,
Gümüshane-Mastra, Usak-Kısladagı and Erzincan-Ilic. Turkey’s silver metal reserve
is 6.062 tons (visible+potential). Reserves are concentrated in Artvin, Balıkesir,
Elazıg, İzmir, Kütahya, Nigde, Ordu, Sivas and Erzincan.

Turkey can be seen as a country rich in gold mine. Turkey constitutes the world’s
land surface area of 0,5 % and 1,0 % of the world’s population. Turkey’s share in
world mineral reserves, according to the ratio greater than one selected from the rich
countries, it means less than poor. With this approach, we can qualify as important
mines for Turkey, where we have more than 0,5 % share in the world reserves
(Turkey has about 2 % of gold resources). Because gold production in Turkey does
not meet the consumption, Turkey is one of the world’s most important importer of
gold. In the last 20 years an average of 156 tons/year of gold near our imports
reached 324 tonnes in 2018 to carry up the gold imports in Turkey. For this reason,
as a result of the National Energy and Mining Policy applied in recent years to
evaluate the potential of mining in the country, it has started to generate significant
foreign exchange savings and employment while increasing the revenues from
business based trade.

Gold production in Turkey first started officially in Izmir-Bergama in the Ovacik gold
mine in 2001. The production of gold, which was 1,4 tons/year at the beginning and
the production of gold mines with the new operation increased to 38 tons/year in
2019. Following the increase in gold market prices, Turkey’s production potential is
thought to be 50 tons/year.

SILVER

While the global silver production has been around 27 thousand tons in its last years,
silver, which has increased by 3 % since the end of 2016, seems to be an important
mine for Turkey. Turkey meat commissioned Silver Inc.’s facilities in 1987, is
Turkey’s first and only pit-run manufacturer of metallic silver from ore with an
integrated process up to the final product stage. Turkey’s silver production continues
to increase over the years. While silver prices in the world market were around 10
$/ounce in the 2000’s, today they have reached 17 $/ounce. This shows that silver
mining is an important position for the country’s economy.

NICKEL

In Turkey, there are mining companies that produce nickel in Manisa-Gördes,

Eskisehir-Mihalıcık and Sivrihisar. Turkey pit-run import and export nickel ore and
intermediate products when analyzed for nickel ore exports in 2019 were carried out
1,780 dollars, while imports amounted to 1.5 million dollars. However, in 2019
unalloyed nickel (99 % purity Nickel) imports amounted to 76 million dollars, while
exports amounted to 1.6 million dollars.

ZINC

Turkey’s zinc reserves are about 2.7 million tons. Although Turkey has 2,07 % of
world zinc reserves, ore production is only 0,28 % of world production. Zinc oxide ore
reserves are located in the Zamanti (Kayseri-Nigde-Adana) district of Middle Taurus.
In addition some small reserves are found in Konya, Malatya, Bingol and Bitlis.

CINKUR Lead and Zinc Company of Kayseri is the only producer of electrolytic zinc
ingot (36.000 tons/year capacity) cadmium metal in bars or plates (112 tons/year).
CINKUR was privatized in 1996 and its shares were purchased by Iranian capital. A
water jacket lead smalter is being built by CINKUR which is expected to be operative
during mid-1997. Existing lead smelters are all owned by private companies except
one, in Kyrykkale which is owned by MKEK Machinery and Chemical Ind. Co.
Turkey’s lead smelting and refining capacity in 1996 was 15.000 tons, production
7.500 tons, consumption about 30.000 tons. Turkey is an importer of lead and zinc
metal.

According to MTA data, zinc metal content source in Turkey is at the level of 2.3
million tons. In the world, the defined zinc source has been calculated as 1.9 billion
tons. Zinc is one of the three most important metals in non-ferrous metals following
aluminum and copper. These three metals are mainly used to increase the corrosion
resistance of iron and steel, and to make special alloys and brass alloys used in the
casting industry. The recycling rate is relatively low and zinc is largely dependent on
mining activities, is also used in the roofing materials and tire industry (as ZnO).

The total amount of reserves on a global scale is 250 million tons, and Australia is at
the first place with a 27% share. The mines in Balıkesir-Balya Rize-Çayeli in Turkey
are the main enterprises producing zinc.

Zınc ore In 2019, Turkey exports of zinc ores were 23,57 % in quantity and 21,27 %
in value compared to the same period of the previous year. by showing a decrease of
734.753 tons, it was realized as 350.21 million dollars. While Belgium ranks first with
140.288.101 dollars (25,79 % decrease) in our zinc ores export, Iran with 54.518.812
dollars (22,22 % decrease), and Spain with 34.824.331 dollars (45,01 % decrease).
These countries Mexico, Japan and Germany follow respectively.
In 2019, our export of lead ores was 6,34 % in amount and 23,8 % in value
compared to the same period of the previous year by showing a decrease of 118.012
tons, it was realized as 147.72 million dollars. While the People’s Republic of China
ranks first in our lead ores exports with 128,209,710 dollars (1,66 % increase), South
Korea with $ 12,179,658 (decrease 56,44 %) and Bulgaria with $ 3,726,571 (increase
107,71 %). These countries are followed by Belgium, Thailand, Iran.

MINERAL FUELS

Turkey has limited oil, natural gas and hard coal reserves and production. Lignite is
the most important energy resource of Turkey with approximately 17.2 billion tons of
reserves. The lignite reserves are extended all over the country but generally poor in
calorific value. Turkey production of lignite coal was at level of 93,917 thousand short
tons in 2018, up from 78,770 thousand short tons previous year, this is a change of
19.23%. A very big part of the production is utilized for power generation purpose.
However, the rising amount of natural gas import has impeded the development of
the lignite production in recent years.

In 2016, Except for lignite the output of mineral fuels was modest. Turkey was ranked
mondially 6th in the production of Lignite (7,05 % of the total mondial production) as it
represents the biggest national energy resource of the country. However, Turkey was
ranked 20th in the production of coking coal, 27th in the production of steam coal (0,03
%), 51th in the production of petrolium (0,06 %) and 70 th in the production of natural
gas (0,01 %).

In the light of the above-mentioned statistics, Turkey remains highly dependent on

imported hard coal, oil and gas as more than half of the energy requirement is
supplied by imports. In fact, on average, the energy demand of Turkey is mounting by
8 % annually which is one of the highest rates in the world. However, the country is
working on empowering its domestic energy sources (renewable energy, nuclear
energy, and coal) to cover the increasingly higher demand for energy needed for the
socio-economical development of the country.

As of 2017 Turkey was 11th in the list of countries by coal production, and mined 1,3
% of the world’s coal, with lignite and sub-bituminous deposits widespread
throughout the country. Due to the country’s geology, there is no hard coal, which
has a higher energy density (over 7.250 kcal/kg), within 1000 m of the surface. All
coal deposits are owned by the state but over half of mining is private sector. In 2017
almost half of Turkey’s coal production was mined by the state-owned mines, but the
government is seeking an expansion of privatization. As of 2019, there are 436 coal
mining companies, 740 coal mines, and more mining and exploration licences are
being tendered. However, some drilling companies are not bidding for licences
because mineral exploration is more profitable and in 2018 many mining licences
were combined with coal licenses. Mining is documented in the “e-maden” computer
system (“maden” means “mine” in Turkish). Coal miners do not have the right
to According to the Eleventh Development Plan (2019-2023): “Exploration of lignite
reserves will be completed and the plant will be ready for tender.”
Hardcoal deposits at Eastern Black Sea Cost have been operated since 1865 at
Zonguldak. Coal mineralization at Kastamonu province is not duly explored and may
have potential coal reserves. Zonguldak coal basin mineralization has more than 30
seams varying in thickness and ash content.

Most of the seams (Kozlu, Üzülmez, Karadon Mines) are coking coals with sulfur
content less than 1%. Coal seams at Armutçuk and Amasra are non-coking coals,
sulfur content beign more than 1%. Lower heat value of all the basin coals are
between 6.000-6.500 Kcal/kg. The coal seams extend from 400 m above sea level to
1300 m below sea level. The remaining reserves are mostly under sea level. The
seams are generally highly inclined and extent under the Black Sea. Total workable
reserves are 700 million tons.

Coal production in Turkey in 2018; it was realized as 83.9 million tons in total; 81.08
million tons of lignite, 1.10 million tons of hard coal and 1.75 million tons of asphaltite.
In 2018, 122.7 million tons of coal was consumed.

In 2018, Turkey’s primary energy supply was 143,666 mtep. 41,03 (Hard Coal,
Lignite, Asphaltite, Coke) mtep and coal took the third place in the distribution of this
supply to resources. In 2018, a total of 113,248.6 GWs of electricity was produced
from coal-based power plants, 50,260.1 GWs from domestic coal (Lignite-Asphaltite-
Hard Coal) power plants, and 62,988.5 GWs from imported coal-based power plants.
The share of electricity produced from coal-based power plants in 2018 was 37,16 %
in total electricity generation, while the share of domestic coal (lignite+hard coal
asphaltite) was 16,49 %.

The installed power of Turkey’s coal-based power plant corresponds to 22,02 % of

the total installed power by the end of June 2020. While the ratio of installed power
based on domestic coal to total installed power was 12,28 %, the ratio of installed
power based on imported coal to total installed power was 9,74 %.

Figure 4 - Coal Basins of Turkey, MTA, 2015

HARDCOAL

During the past three years, even though the manpower and the payroll cost of
hardcoal mining operations has been reduced greatly from the 1993 level as.
Hardcoal Enterprise of Turkey (TTK) suffered large commercial losses during the
same years totaling about 1.4 billion USD and had to be subsidized from the national
budget.

The Zonguldak basin in the northwest is the only coal mining region in Turkey that
produces hard coal, about 2 million tons a year fromdon, Kozlu and
Uzulmez. Compared to other countries, the energy value of the coal is low, at 4.000
kilocalories per kilogram (1.800 kcal/lb) to 6.000 kcal/kg (2.700 kcal/lb). Although low
grade it is generally of cokeable or semi-cokeable quality. Because there is so much
faulting and folding, mining in the region is very difficult. Longwall mining is necessary
due to the tectonic structure of the seams.

Soma areas of Zonguldak coal basin are to be made available for private mining. The
suspension of TTK’s hardcoal mining is not advocated by any of the political parties
beacuse of social and political considerations.

LIGNITE

Lignite deposits are widespread all over Turkey, in Neogene formations. Lower heat
values vary from 1.100 to 4.500 Kcal per kg, some are even higher. However their
sulfur content is generally high. Soma (Manisa) and Tuncbilek (Kütahya) lignites are
higher in heat content and lower in sulfur content. Some lignites contain more than 3
% sulfur. The largest lignite deposit of Afsin-Elbistan coals with proven reserves of
3.357 million tons has a lower heat value of 1.050 Kcal/kg and 1.5 ton 2.0 percent
sulphur content.

Lignite outcrops have been found in all Neogen formations covering almost one half
of surface area of Turkey; up to 20 % of these formations are a potential source of
lignite deposits which may be discovered if exploration drills beyond the bazalt
formations overlaying the Neogen formations are undertaken in the future.

Figure 5 - Leading Countries Based on Lignite Reserves in 2018 (in million met.ton)
The major lignite deposits are in the Kahramanmaras-Elbistan, Mugla-Yatagan,
Manisa-Soma, Kutahya–Tuncbilek-Seyitömer, Ankara-Beypazarı and Sivas-Kangal
basins. Turkey has nearly 11.5 billion tons lignite reserves and 1.1 tons of lignite has
been produced. Turkey is in the 7th place for its reserves and in the 6 th place for
lignite production.

In 2018 Turkey was the third-largest lignite mining country with 7 % of world
production. The most significant deposits of lignite coal were laid down in
the geological Neogene period. Almost half of the country’s lignite reserves are in the
Afsin-Elbistan basin. Lignite coalfields include Elbistan, Kutahya Tavsanlı, Inez,
Manisa, İnagzı-Baglık and Gediz and 90 % of lignite production is from surface
mines. Locations of major individual lignite mines include Tuncbilek in Tavsanlı,
Yatagan near the southern Aegean, Yenikoy in Mugla and Seyitomer in Kütahya and
there is a gilstone mine in Silopi Turkish lignite has high carbon, sulphur, ash,
moisture and volatile components. Its calorific value is less than 12.5 MJ/kg and that
from Afsin Elbistan has less than 5 MJ/kg, which is a quarter of typical thermal coal.

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY RESOURCES

More than 600 hot water resources with 102 0C have been discovered in recent years
in Turkey and also nearly 183 new geothermal areas (35-40 0C) have been revealed
with drilling programs carried out by MTA. Turkey, according to its geothermal
energy, comes first in the EU and is 7 th in the world. Potential areas are mainly
located in western Anatolia. Denizli-Kızıldere power plant, the only power plant of
Turkey using geothermal energy, generates 114 MWe electricity. In Afyon, Kütahya,
Balıkesir, İzmir-Balçova, Ankara-Kızılcahamam and Manisa-Salihli areas, geothermal
energy has been used for heating.

The geothermal capacity of Turkey is very high. 78 % of these geothermal fields are
situated in Western Anatolia, 9% in Central Anatolia, 7 % in the Marmara Region, 5%
in Eastern Anatolia and 1 % in the other regions. 90 % of our geothermal resources
are low and medium enthalpy geothermal areas which are suitable for direct
applications (heating, thermal tourism, industrial usage, etc.), while 10 % are suitable
for indirect applications (generation of electricity). First geothermal electricity
generation held in 1975 was initiated by Kızıldere power plant with 0.5 MWe power.

In order to develop existing resources and to search for new resources/fields, drillings
reached from 2.000 meters to 28.000 meters. Since 2005, with the support of our
Ministry, the development of existing geothermal resources initiated and began to
search for new potential areas. In 2008, in conjunction with the Geothermal
Resources and Natural Mineralized Waters Law, private sector began to introduce
development and investment of geothermal projects also. In conjunction with this
development, the country’s total geothermal heat capacity (visible amount of heat)
reached to 35.500 MWt. The potential for electricity generation in Turkey is estimated
at 2000 MWe and also heat potential is 31.500 MWt.
ASPHALTITE

Known deposits are in Silopi and Sırnak of SE Turkey. There are eleven seams
extending over an area about 3 Kms by 1300 meters. Width of the seams vary from
4.5 meters to 20 meters and have lower heat values of 4.000-4.500 kcal/kg. Sulphur
content 6.5 to 7.0 percent.

CRUDE OIL

Turkey’s main hydrocarbon exploration areas are SE Anatolia, Thrace, Black Sea
inland basins, Taurus Mountains, Adana Province and East Anatolia basins. The first
crude oil discovery in Turkey was made in 1940 at a depth of 1.048 m. Until 1993
total crude oil reserves discovered in Turkey was 931.5 million tons of which 126.7
million tons were recoverable; production 41.4 million tons. End of 1996 remaining
known reserves are 27 million tons.

Natural gas reserves are found mostly in Thrace and partly in SE TURKEY. Until the
end of 1992 natural gas reserves discovered in Turkey were 18.4 billion cubic
meters; recoverable 13 billion cubic meters. End of 1996 remaining recoverable
reserves are 10.2 billion cubic meters.

Turkey, a total of 9.536.832 meters of drilling were drilled until the end of 2019 and
5,063 wells were drilled. 200.301 km2 dimensional, 67.422 km2 3-dimensional seismic
studies were carried out offshore and 184.400 km2 -dimensional and 20.147 km2 3-
dimensional seismic studies were carried out onshore. In 2019, 153 wells were drilled
by drilling 340,863 meters in Turkey. Crude oil production was 2.984.800 tons and
the remaining producible oil reserve is 51.076.078 tons.

Exploration works in the seas continue at full speed in order to bring Turkey’s oil and
natural gas resources to our economy and to reduce our dependency on foreign
countries. In this context, two seismic ships and three drill ships were brought to
Turkey. Applications for oil exploration licenses are carried out by the General
Directorate of Mining and Petroleum Affairs.

In addition to our crude oil imports of 31 million tons in 2019, 13.7 million tons of
petroleum products were imported. However, 14.3 million tons of petroleum products
were exported. The countries from which we import crude oil are mainly Russia, Iraq,
Kazakhstan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Libya.

NATURAL GAS

Turkey consumed about 45.3 billion m3 in 2019, a total of 483 million m3 of natural
gas and production. The remaining producible reserve is approximately 3.36 billion
m3. With the new fields discovered as a result of the drilling performed for natural gas
in Turkey in 2018 and 2019, natural gas production has increased in the last two
years, and production has increased by 20 % in 2018 and 11 % in 2019 compared to
previous years.

In 2019, approximately 45.21 billion m3 of natural gas was imported. LNG imports
accounted for 28% of the total natural gas imports in 2019. In the same year, only
762 million m3 natural gas was exported to Greece. The natural gas market in the
world acts in parallel with the oil market. Natural gas prices were also quite low in
2020, when oil prices saw their lowest levels. Within the scope of the activities to
meet the increasing need for oil and natural gas from domestic resources as much as
possible, the studies carried out in Turkey’s poorly sought-after basins and especially
in the marine areas in the Black Sea and the Mediterranean have accelerated. In
recent years, hydrocarbon exploration has gained momentum with seismic data
collection and drilling activities in our seas, as developments in marine drilling
technology have revealed exploration and production opportunities in areas with high
water depths (1.000-2.500 m). In this context, 2 seismic exploration and 3 drilling
vessels were provided through both purchasing and domestic manufacturing.

In order to ensure the diversity of resources in the field of natural gas supply security
of Turkey and to become a natural gas trade center in the medium and long term, our
works continue in line with national energy policies.

URANIUM

According to the report prepared by MTA in 2017, uranium and thorium resources in
the in Turkey are located in 5 different bed which is about 12.614 tons in total.
Although the average grade and reserves of these 5 deposits are within the world-
accepted economic limits in the years they were sought, these values have remained
well below the current economic evaluation limits.

This is due to the significant changes in nuclear power plant planning in recent years,
especially in Canada and Australia, uranium deposits with high grade and low
production costs. While Uranium (U 3O8) prices decreased in 2017, it later
compensated this decline and rose to the highest level of the last four years today.

THORIUM

In Turkey, the Mineral Research and Exploration as a result of the work done by the
General Directorate in the past years, Eskisehir, rare earths and thorium complex ore
deposit in Sivrihisar-Kizilcaoren region, the average grade of 374.000 tonnes
appears that ThO2 0,2 % reserves have been identified. However, technological
problems related to enrichment of thorium in the area in question have not been
solved yet.

Apart from this region, it is estimated that the thorium reserve of Turkey will increase
as a result of more detailed exploration studies in Malatya-Hekimhan-Kuluncak,
Kayseri-Felâhiye, Sivas, Diyarbakır and Burdur-Canaklı sites, where thorium beds
have been identified. With thorium deposits that are found and being investigated in
Turkey, one of the countries with the world’s largest reserves of thorium can be said
to be in position. Provided that the technological problems can be solved, Turkey,
has a significant potential for thorium nuclear energy, which is our raw material and
thorium mine has a very rich mineral wealth classification in class. Thorium prices
were at 29 $/lb in 2015, reaching 33 $/lb in 2017, and this balance continues at this
level.
Turkey even though not a very large country, because of its complicated geology and
geography, its mainland Anatolia is called Asia Minor, where a large variety of
mineral deposits are found. However Turkey’s presently known mineral deposits are
not large enough to make Turkey a mineral rich country. Hardcoal and Crude oil
reserves are considered to be scarce; the base metals deposits discovered so far are
not large enough to sustain a production which will meet the domestic demand
created by the growing population and the developing manufacturing industry.
Scarcity of investment capital which is typical of all developing countries has been the
main reason why Turkey’s mineral resource so far have not been explored well
enough. Turkish private capital until recent years has never been interested enough
to undertake integrated mining projects neither alone or in joint venture with foreign
capital. The governemnt’s policty until the last decade has not encouraged foreign
risk capital in mining. Instead the state has had to undertake fixed capital incestments
in sub-marginal hardcoal projects because of partly national security and partly social
considerations. State financed projects in basic metals projects have also generally
been submarginal because of their small scale capacities selected because of small
size mineral deposits discovered with limited exploration expenditures.

Because of the high demand created by state owned thermal power stations the
state has undertaken large capacity lignite mining projects which are generally
operated at reasonable profits. Turkey’s borate mineral resources, probably largest
known deposits in the world which are under state monopoly are developed in large
capacities compatable with market demand and operated profitably. However state
operated hardcoal operation’s losses generally wipe out all of the profit made by
other state owned primary mining operations and as such is a continuous drain on
the Turkish economy.

Turkey’s privately owned mining operations with few exceptions have been until the
past decade, confined to outcrop drift mining for the production of marketable ore or
concentrate with the lowest risk capital expenditure possible; therefore their
capacities are very small and flexibility to compete during depressed markets is very
limited.

During the last two decades the development of manufacturing industry based on
industrial minerals has been the main cause for the vertical integration of such
industries into primary mining to safeguard the supply of their main inputs in
acceptable world quality standards. This has also promoted the exports of such
minerals during the past decade.

The above data confirms the preference of both local and foreign capital to invest in
minerals based industry rather than the primary mining, the line of priority being
cement, iron and steel and non-ferrous metals industry. To this list sodium chemicals
and glass industry may be included in the future if Etibank’s trona project is
undertaken by a joint-venture including the private capital.

Foreign capital’s main interest in the future may be directed to the exploration and
development of base metals potential of Turkey in Black Sea and Agean Regions
which are unexplored if Turkey’s economic stability, social and political climate
change for the better in the near future and if attractive additional incentives such as
Corporation and income tax exemptions of several years are granted for the owners
of large size integrated mining projects.

During the past six years neither fixed investment nor production growth in primary
mining has been as anticipated by the government and in fact the production growth
has been in the negative mainly because of lack of investment. Until year 2000 the
goverment’s anticipation is a growth of mining production at an annual average rate
of less than what is anticipated for the overall economy.

Prospect for growth in the minerals based industry will be greater than in the primary
mining. Growth of production in cement, clay products, ceramics, sodium and boron
Chemicalls will continue in line with the growing domestic and export markets.

In the long term future Turkey’s Geothermal resources will have a large share in her
energy consumption for space heating and electricity production. Exports of water
from southern Turkey to her southern neighbours shall also be a sustained source of
foreign currency income.

Additionally in the long term future, Turkey’s hard currency drain caused by her high
import reliance in crude oil and natural gas will be partly compensated by her income
from the pipelines transportation of said fuels through Turkey to Western Europe from
the Turkic Republic and other Middle East Countries.

Exploration strategies for mineral resources are closely related to many factors such
as technology, knowledge, industry’s needs, regional development and investment
priorities. In Turkey, mining industry has risen over the past 50 years due to rapidly
growing industry in the country. For this reason, Turkey is now one of the most
dynamic mining destinations in word. Although it has nearly 60 different types of
minerals and also it already has an important place in the world mining industry,
Turkey is still at an early stage in the mining sector. When all the data are taken into
consideration; Turkey’s mineral export target should be at least 20 billion USD in the
next decades. For this reason, true and effective exploration programs should be
planned/re-planned to achieve the export target and reveal the correct mineral
potential of the country.

In Turkey almost all of the mineral deposits in shallow environments have been
discovered and consumed. For this reason, exploration facilities for buried and
conceptual deposits have gained priority. Nevertheless, most of the mine exploration
facilities in Turkey have been sustained in the shallow environments (near 200-300
m. depth). Hence, explorations are targeting buried deposits in Turkey. On the other
hand, with the correct exploration programs, Turkey has potential for the energy raw
materials, geothermal energy resources and also iron, gold-base metal, rare earth
element (REE), lithium, trona - gypsum, and kaolin - feldspar and strontium salts-
sodium sulphate deposits. Existing mineral deposits indicated below, previous
studies and available mineral deposits models support this idea.

Furthermore, exploration and capitalization on the mineral deposits with low grade
and large volumes are accepted as common strategies because of the economic
conditions and consumption of high grade and small volume deposits in the world.
Moreover, with the increase in raw material prices due to the economic condition, and
also new exploration strategies, low graded mineral deposits with technological
problems have gained value. Accordingly, Turkey will become even more important
since it hosts high grade/small volume and also undiscovered burial deposits.

STRUCTURE OF MINING INDUSTRY

The diversity, quantity and quality of the reserves together with its significant capacity
of production made Turkey one the important global mining forces in the world. In
addition, the developed infrastructure and the geographical advantages which
contribute to the efficiency of the transportation and shipping of the produced
materials rank Turkey as the 25th mining force in the world.

Experts predict that the mining sector in Turkey will continue to grow in the next few
years and emphasize that the interest of foreign investors in favor of the metal
industries will assist in the development of the sector in the future. Furthermore, the
beneficial regulations and procedures established by the government as the studied
prices, the no tax policy on the exported minerals and imported processing
equipments with the promotion of mining activities will be of great benefit to the
economical growth of the country.

According to IMIB, the most exported mining resources by Turkey are Marble, natural
stones, Boron concentrates and products, Chromium, Na-feldspar, Magnesite,
Copper, Zinc, Gypsum, Barite and Pumice. In fact, today the natural stones sector
(Marble, Limestone, Onyx, Conglomerate, Breccia, Granite, Syenite, Diabase,
Diorite, Antigorite, etc.) has become a leading sector in terms of mining exports.
Between 2003 and 2016, exports of natural stones rose by 333 % from 1,5 megaton
to 6,5 megaton. However, the country remains import dependant for other minerals in
order to cover the deficit or the need for materials of a specific quality. The most
imported resources are: hard coal, Iron, Marble and natural stones, Phosphate,
Copper, Magnesite, Ka-feldspar, Chromium, Sulfur, Silica sand and Graphite. Table 4
displays the significant revenues of the mining sector to the economy of Turkey
between 2013 and 2017.

Table 2- Mineral export statistics the changes of mining exportation.

Natural Stone Mining, natural stones

Year Total (USD)
(USD) not included (USD)
2013 2 225 035 604 2 818 873 264 5 043 908 868
2014 2 128 729 767 2 518 282 641 4 647 012 409
2015 1 907 225 156 1 993 512 793 3 900 737 949
2016 1 805 899 382 1 980 867 353 3 786 766 734
2017 2 048 092 464 2 640 147 864 4 688 240 328

The distribution values of exports by mineral groups are also displayed in Fig. 1. On
the basis of an analysis of these values, in 2017, the total exports of industrial raw
materials represented 925,633,217 $ which is 14.56% higher when compared to the
previous year, natural stones export in 2017 was 2,059,301,144 $. Furthermore, the
total exports of metallic ore increased by 51.13 %.
The share of the mining products export value in the total export value of Turkey
between 2013 and 2017 is displayed in Table 3. According to this table, the share of
mineral export value in the total export value accounted for 3 % in 2017.

Table3 - Share of mine exports in total export values.

Total Export Mineral Export Share of mineral export value in

Year
Value (x 1.000 $) Value (x 1.000 $) the total export value (%)
2013 151.707.002 5.042.322 3,3
2014 157.622.057 4.646.945 2,9
2015 143.729.741 3.906.820 2,7
2016 142.138.850 3.786.686 2,7
2017 156.782.257 4.688.011 3,0

The exports value of the mining sector, which accounted for 4.68 billion USD out of a
total export value of 156.7 billion USD in 2017 thus covering 3% of our country's total
exports, realized an increase by 23.8 % when compared to the previous year.

Figure 6 - Distribution of the export value in Turkey by mineral group (%)

Until the establishment of Turkish Republic in 1923 Turkish private capital had only
20 percent ownership of Turkish Mining Operations. The remaining 80 percent was
owned by foreign investors (75 %) and minorities (5 %). In 1924 Türkiye Is Bankası
purchased part of the hardcoal mining operations in Zonguldak Coal Basin.
Goverment’s direct involvement in mining dates back more than six decades when
MTA (General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration) and Etibank were
established in 1935, the former to carry out the geological survey as well as mine
exploration and mineral research, while the latter was to carry out all of the public
owned mining operations. Today Etibank carries out all of the non-ferrous metal
mining and most of the industrial minerals operations owned by the public.

Some industrial minerals mining for the sugar, fertilizer, cement, refractories and
ceramic industries are carried out by the Public Corporations concerned. Etibank and
two of its former major participations, namely CINKUR, Zinc and Lead Corporation
which is privatized and essentially owned by foreign capital and KBI Black Sea
Copper Operations Company share a very large portion of the Turkish mining
production outside of mineral fuels and iron ore mining.

The majority of iron ore mining is owned by Turkish Iron and Steel Corporation. In
1957 Turkish Coal Enterprise was established which took over all of the Etibank
owned coal operations. In 1984 Turkish Hard Coal Enterprise was established to
operate the Zonguldak coal fields and other hardcoal deposits. Other major state
corporations in mining are TPAO, Turkish Petroleum Corporation which also
produces natural gas, TUPRAŞ Turkish Petroleum Rafineries Corporation,
CITOSAN, Cement and Earth Products Corporation which is privatized on a large
scale.

Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (Turkey)

The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources (Enerji ve Tabii Kaynaklar Bakanlığı)
is a government ministry office of the Republic of Turkey , responsible for natural
resources related affairs and energy in Turkey. Ministry vision is providing the highest
contribution to national welfare by utilizing energy and natural resources in the most
efficient and environmentally-conscious manner. A reliable future in energy and
natural resources.

Eti Mine Works (ETIBANK)

Eti Mine Works (Eti Maden İşletmeleri Genel Müdürlüğü) is a Turkish state-owned
mining and chemicals company focusing on boron products. It holds a government
monopoly on the mining of borate minerals in Turkey, which possesses 72 % of the
world's known deposits. In 2018, it held a 47% share of global production of borate
minerals, ahead of its main competitor, Rio Tinto Group, which held 23 %. In 2012, it
was the forty-first largest industrial company in Turkey, with an annual revenue of $
850 million.

It was founded in 1935 as Etibank, a bank created to finance Turkish natural

resource extraction; in 1993, the company's banking activities were privatized and its
mining activities separated under the name Eti Holding AŞ In 2004, the company was
restructured again and named Eti Mine Works. Its subsidiaries include AB
Etiproducts OY, a Finland-based company which distributes Eti Mine Works products
in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Russia, Central Asia, and Africa.

In 1982, Ab Etiproducts was established by Finnish mining multimetal Outokumpu

group and Etibank. In 1993 Outokumpu's share was transferred to Etimine SA, sister
company of Ab Etiproducts Oy, responsible for the marketing of Turkish boron
products in western Europe. In 2005, Ab Etiproducts Oy established
a subsidiary company Etiproducts Inc. in Russia.

The company presently operates in Scandinavia (Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland

and Norway), the Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania), Poland, Russia,
Kazakhstan and other CIS countries. Stock is located in the Baltic and Black Sea
Region regions. The subsidiary company Etiproducts Llc has stockplace in Azov,
Russia. Ab Etiproducts Oy controls international sales and distribution of boron
products in Finland, Sweden, Iceland, Norway, Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Russia,
Estonia, Kazakhstan and other CIS countries.

Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises (TTK)

Turkish Hard Coal Enterprises (Türkiye Taşkömürü Kurumu Genel Müdürlüğü) is the
heavily subsidized state owned enterprise which has a virtual monopoly in mining,
processing and distribution, including importing, of hard oal in Turkey. According to
21st century data up to 2019 Armutcuk, Karadon and Uzulmez were more hazardous
than Amasra and Kozlu mines. Although coal mining accidents in Turkey decreased
considerably after the government introduced tougher safety measures in the mid-
2010s, the relative danger compared to other occupations since then is not publicly
known, as the government restricted access to workplace death statistics.

Turkish Coal Enterprise (TKI)

The Turkish Coal Enterprise TKI (Türkiye Kömür İşletmeleri Genel Müdürlüğü, TKİ) is
the state owned enterprise which mines lignite coal in Turkey. Turkey is the third-
largest lignite producer in the world, with 7 % of total production. TKI’s annual capital
expenditure was ₺198 million (US$ 57 million) per year between 2016–2017 and the
largest lignite mine in Turkey is Afşin-Elbistan. TKİ had been profitable but made
losses in 2016 and 2017. In 2018 TKI mined 30 Mt of which 16 Mt was open pit and
14 Mt underground: and in the same year 20 Mt was sold, 12.6 Mt to power plants
and 7.4 Mt to industry and households. Ventilation air from some minesi such as
Soma Eynez, contains significant methane and so in 2019 studies were being done
on how to capture it. TKI is on the Global Coal Exit List compiled by the
NGO urgewald (in Germany).

Electricity Generation Company (Turkey)

The Electricity Generation Company (Elektrik Üretim AŞ; EÜAŞ) is the largest electric
power company in Turkey. Owned by the government, it produces and trades electric
throughout the country. EÜAŞ was founded by the government in 2001. Its main
purpose was to plan and implement the energy policy of Turkey which, through the
exploitation of the domestic products and resources, would distribute cheap electric
power to all Turkish citizens. In 2018 it took over the state-owned electricity trading
firm TETAŞ.

As of 2019 EUAŞ owns almost a fifth of Turkey's total generating capacity [ including
coal, gas, hydro and wind power stations. As of 2020 EUAŞ owns most of the
country’s lignite in 7 coalfields, including the largest Elbistan. As it owns the old Can-
1 and Afşin-Elbistan B power stations and buys from private sector lignite-fired plants
its coal-fired electricity is highly polluting. In 2010 its coal-fired plants were
responsible for over 50 thousand years of lost life and over a million working days
lost. Çan-2 coal-fired power station opened in 2018 and EÜAŞ guaranteed 7 years of
electricity purchases at a cost of between 64 and 70m USD per year.

EÜAŞ (with state-owned gas and oil company BOTAS) is an oligopoly and sets a soft
cap on electricity spot prices; whereas prices to end consumers are regulated. In
2018 EÜAŞ lost 1.8 billion lira. Support for cola in Turkey resulting from annual
expenditures of EÜAȘ in primary materials and supplies is estimated at ₺953 million
(US$272 million) per year (2016–2017 average).
General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration MTA (Turkey)
General Directorate of the Mineral Research & Exploration of Turkey (Maden Tetkik
ve Arama Genel Müdürlüğü, commonly known as MTA) is a scientific institution
established by Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources 1935.

MTA conducts geological and geophysical surveys all around Turkey in order to
explore natural resources, like ore deposits and energy raw materials. The institution
has 6 divisions with many different analysis labs, 12 district offices and one training
facility for geologists and geophysical engineers in Ankara. Apart from focusing on
fieldwork for mining research, MTA also has remote sensing facilities since 1975.
Remote sensing unit operates under MTA Geophysics Research Division
and TUBITAK has a cooperation since early 1970s.

MTA publishes Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration twice a year since
1936. Papers are published in English and Turkish since 1950 and distributed
worldwide.

Turkish Petroleum Corporation

Türkiye Petrolleri Anonim Ortaklığı (TPAO) was founded in 1954 by Law No. 6327
with the responsibility of being involved in hydrocarbon exploration, drilling,
production, refinery and marketing activities as Turkey's national company. Being an
important actor of the national economy, TPAO achieved many “firsts” of the Turkish
oil industry. The company, its history reaching back over a half century, has given
rise to seventeen major companies, including Petkim, Tupras and POAŞ to Turkey.

Until 1983, as an integrated oil company, it was engaged in all the activity fields of oil
industry from exploration to production, refinery, marketing and transportation. Today,
TPAO is a national oil company involved in merely upstream (exploration, drilling,
well completion and production) sector.

In order to provide the necessary mineral resources for the scientific and
technological development of the country, the mining sector in Turkey is rapidly
expanding. In fact, this sector plays a crucial role in the social and economical growth
of the country, as it ensured about 3% of the total exports value of the country in
2017. In fact, ranked 25th on the list of the global mineral resources producing
countries in 2016, today, Turkey is one of the important mining forces worldwide.
Several factors contributed to this achievment as the diversity and the wealth of the
resources, the developed infrastructure, the disponibility of working force, the
measures adopted by the government to support and empower the sector which
attracted foreign investors and the geographical position of the country which played
a crucial role in the transportation and shipping of the produced materials.

Aside from its significant share in the economy of the country, the mining sector
constantly ensures the development of rural and regional areas near quarries, mines
and processing facilities, significant employment opportunities and the prevention of
internal migration. Experts predict that the mining sector will continue to grow in the
next few years as its share in the eonomical and social development of the country
will continue to increase. However, several studies highlight that reaching these goals
requires a deeper understanding of the full mining potential of the country by
conducting more intensive exploration studies on the existant and potential mineral
resources to determine with precision the available reserves and their geochemical
particularities. In addition, reducing the country's dependency on energy imports is
extremely crucial to ensure the growth of the mining sector in Turkey.

General Directorate of Mining and Petroleum Affairs

General Directorate of Mining and Petroleum Affairs (Maden ve Petrol İşleri Genel
Müdürlüğü, MAPEG) is a Turkish government agency which is responsible for the
approval and regulation of mines. Its interest licensing, monitoring and controlling on
mines in Turkey.

The reporting and documentation process of all the data provided during every
stages of exploration should be carried out in the accredited labs in accordance with
international standards by qualified technical staff, which is or great importance, in a
global world and free market economy, for engineers, planners, miners, investors and
finance organizations. National Resources and Reserves Reporting Committee
(UMREK) was founded by amendment of Article 14 to the Mining Law 3213 by
passing of the Law 6745 on the date of 2016. The working principles and procedures
of the Committee was regulated by the “By-Law of the National Resources and
Reserves Reporting Committee” which became effective on the date of 2017. As
specified in the By-Law, the Committee consists of members from the General
Directorate of Mining Affairs (MIGEM).

General Directorate laid down the foundations of the National Resources and
Reserves Reporting Committee and consequently the “National Resources and
Reserves Reporting Committee” shortly called UMREK, has been founded for
reporting any mining exploration and operation activities in compliance with the
international standards and ensuring such reports to be accurate and reliable, for
which the supplementary to the Mining Law.

The National Boron Research Institute (BOREN)

The National Boron Research Institute (Ulusal Bor Araştırma Enstitüsü, BOREN) has
been established by the Law No. 4865, dated 2003, in order to provide the required
scientific environment for research of users in different fields, carry out, have others
carry out, coordinate and contribute scientific research in cooperation with the public
and private law legal persons using boron and its products and/or carrying out
research in this field in order to ensure broad use of boron products and technologies
and ensure production and development of new boron products. The duties and
organization of BOREN, the related institution of the Ministry of Energy and Natural
Resources of Turkey, have been reorganized of the Presidential Decree No. 4, dated
2018.

BOREN conducts and supports projects and programs in the field of Boron by means
of cooperation and coordination with the relevant public and private sector R&D and
industrial organizations, conducts scientific publications and activities related to
Boron and conducts activities for the commercialization of Boron products.
MINING LEGISLATION

Under the Turkish Constitution all mineral resources are under the jurisdiction of the
State and under permission of law real or legal entities can engage in mining. Mining
Law No: 3213 enacted in 1985 aims at minimising the formalities and expediting
General Directorate of Mines’ Operations for the grantings, supervision as well
cancellation of mining rights. Any real or legal person under Turkish law can apply for
and obtain a permit to explore, develop and operate a mineral (an ore) deposit. The
land area to be applied for an exploration permit is unlimited (except for marble which
is 250 hectars and lake minerals which is 2000 hectars) and any of the minerals
defined under the mining law may be explored and an application can be made after
their discovery for development and subsequent exploitation.

The mining rights (titles) are granted in three consequitive phases, the first being an
exploration licence for 30 months duration which may continue with second phase,
the granting of a pre-operation licence of three years, which can not be extended.
The title holder may extract and sell one tenth of the proven ore indicated in his
periodic progress reports. The third phase is the operation licence and operation
permission, which is granted at the same time as the granting of the operation
licence. All ore deposits explored in an exploration area and documented in the
application for an operating licence have to be operated in the order of their priority of
operation at time intervals not exceeding five years for each ore deposit to be mined
under the same mining title. This phase has a duration of ten years extandable up to
sixty years.

In addition to payments of annual levies varying for each type of title, guarantees in
cash has to be deposited at the Mining Fund per hectar of land which is doubled for
each subsequent phase of the title, both to discourage the holding of large land and
as a collateral for payment of fines imposed for failure to perform any of the
undertakings required by law. Failure to refund within six months any deficit in the
deposit is a cause for the cancellation of the mining title.

General Directorate of Mines is under the juristiction of the Minister of Energy and
Natural Resources. During the past two decades there has been a heavy pressure on
the government by the private mining sector to establish a Ministry of Mines to head
all of the public departments and public corporations involved in mining. The
tendency to adapt this policy has grown greatly during the recent months and all such
departments and public corporations are under the juristiction of a Minister of State
since the present government took over in July, 1996.

Studies are underway to modify some sections of the Mining Law No:3213 to
diminish the red-tape and adapt the depletion allowance concept for the mining
operations in order to make investing in mining more attractive. The geological and
mineralogical character of ore occurances in Turkey would highly justify this policy
where high investment expenditures will be required to develop lower grade large
base metals deposits in the future.

After the modification of the Mining Law No:3213 it is anticipated that these above
taxes will be replayed by a payment of royalty of 1 to 3 percent of the pit-head price
of the run-of-mine output, same as it was under Law No:6309 replaced by the
present Mining Law. In view of the mineral producers this will make the tax burden
even heavier being a payment irrespective of whether mining operation is profitable
or not.

Other taxes confined to Mining Operations are Municipalities Tax (2 %) if the mining
Operations are withing boundaries of any municipality and taxes levied in favour of
recipients of “Right of Discovery” and “Right of Notification” which are (2 %) and (1
%) of the taxable income respectively. The latter two taxes were enacted into Law
No:3213 in order to compensate small miners who have contributed their services for
the discovery of the relavant ore deposit.

In summary, the mining operations are taxed from ten to fifteen percent more on their
gross profit made in mining operations in addition to payment of corporation tax (25
%) and income tax withholding (15 % of gross profit or 20 % of payable income) plus
10 percent each of the above taxes under the title of “Contribution to funds” which
are a pool of funds to finance the state subsidies. Value added tax on minerals and
other industrial products is (1997) fifteen percent of the invoiced price. All exports are
exempt from the payment of value added tax.

Investment incentives
All companies established in Turkey under Turkish Commercila Code, whether fully
owned by domestic or foreign capital enjoy the same priviliges of investment
incentives, which is granted upon application to undertake the implementation of a
fixed investment project for production or rendering of services.

Mining projects enjoy the same privileges as projects in other sectors, which are
exemption of payment of custom’s duties and levies for imported equipment,
deferment of value added tax against letters of guarantee on imported goods which is
redeemed during the commercial operation. A rebate or compensation of 25 percent
of invoice value of locally procured equipment, (15 percent for the compensation of
the value added tax paid plus ten percent premium to subsidize purchase of domestic
machinery and equipment), a discount, from corporation tax principal or gross profit
in the amount from 70 to 100 percent of fixed capital invested for the project and
exemption from the payment of stamp taxes, duties and other levies imposed on loan
agreements if exports from 5 to 20 percent of envisaged production are guaranteed.
A certain percentage of exports revenue is profit tax deductable.

Mining licences
Only Turkish citizens and the companies established under Turkish laws specifically
for mining purposes are entitled to hold mining rights. Foreign capital companies
established in Turkey for mining purposes are entitled to hold mining rights as they
are deemed Turkish companies.
The Mining Law categorises minerals in five groups:
- sand and gravel;
-marble and other similar decorative stones;
-salts in solution form that can be obtained from sea, lake and spring waters;
-energy, metal and industrial minerals; and
-precious metals and gem stones.
The General Directorate of Mining Affairs (MAPEG), a unit of the Ministry of Energy
and Natural Resources, is the authorised body to regulate the mining activities and
issue mining licences.

Exploration Licence/Certificate
The first step to engage in mining activities is to apply for an exploration licence or
certificate (the licence issued for the fifth group is named “certificate” in the
legislation). The right of priority in the application process is based upon the date of
application. The term of an exploration licence is three years; however, this period
may be extended for some minerals for an additional two years.

Operation Licence
Before the end of the exploration licence period, the licence holder must apply for an
operation licence. The term of an operation licence for first group minerals may not
be less than five years and for other groups may not be less than ten years, whereas
the term of an operation certificate (issued for the fifth group) may not be less than
five years. The term of an operation licence/certificate may be extended. However,
the period of the licence may not exceed 60 years starting from the date of licence.
Only the Council of Ministers is authorised to extend the term after the end of 60
years. Operation Permit. In addition to an operation licence, an operation permit is
required to start production activities. Separate operation permits are required for
different types of minerals within the same area covered by one operation licence. An
operation licence covers the area in which the mining activities will be conducted and
provides the legal right to use the licensed area whereas the operation permit gives
the licence-holder the right to operate the mine. The duration of the operation permit
is limited to the duration of the operation licence.

Transfer of mining rights

A mining licence may be transferred to those qualified under the Mining Law and the
transfer must be registered at the MAPEG. Parties may also execute a royalty
agreement rather than transferring the licence. Under a royalty agreement, the holder
of the mining licence grants the right of operation of the mine to the operator for a
certain period in exchange for a royalty payment. However, such agreement does not
result in the legal transfer of the mining licence. After the amendment made in 2005,
registration of a royalty agreement at the mining registry is no longer possible.
Accordingly, unlike the practice in the past, the royalty agreement shall operate to
bind its parties contractually. Such a contract does not form a part of the official
record at the MAPEG. Accordingly, third parties can no longer rely on the assumption
that royalty agreements would be a part of the official record. Upon termination,
expiration or abandonment of a mineral licence, all assets will be transferred to the
State; the licence area will be automatically opened to new activities and the licence
will be tendered through public auction.

Exclusivity of Turkish courts

Any matter related to the operation of mines is within the exclusive jurisdiction of the
Turkish courts. Contractual obligations of the parties not related to the mining rights
may be freely determined by the parties in accordance with the principle of freedom
of contract.
Engineer for record
The operation licence-holder must assign at least one mining engineer of minimum
five years of experience as a technical supervisor to oversee the mine extraction
activities. Companies employing at least 30 workers or companies employing at least
15 workers and operating an underground mine, are obliged to employ a permanent
technical supervisor.

Duties and security deposits

In order to guarantee the license holder's obligations arising from the license and for
services provided by the MAPEG, the license holders are required to provide a
security deposit and annual duty for each license. The amount is determined
annually by the Ministry of Finance.

Surface rights
The ownership of mineral rights does not cover the ownership of the immovable
properties where the mineral resources are located. Therefore, it is necessary to
create a usufruct or easement right over the mineral exploration area in order to carry
out any mining activities. Other legal options to utilise privately-owned lands are
purchasing, leasing and, if no other option is available, having the land expropriated.
The legal options to use State-owned land are purchasing, leasing and establishing a
usufruct right. Mining operations to be conducted on State-owned land are not
subject to any payment for usage of such land. In this case, the royalty will be levied
by an additional 30 % of the royalty.

In order to simplify the permitting process, a regulation has been issued to govern the
permitting process specifically for mining activities. Under this regulation, the
MAPEG, in addition to other relevant authorised bodies, is authorised to follow the
applications regarding the permits required for mining. Such requirements include a
range of social and environmental studies and permits covering, for example, forests,
pastures, water resources, and impacts on communities.

Under Turkish Mining Law No. 3213 (Law), as amended by Laws No. 5177 and 5995
respectively, in order to perform operational activities on a particular mine, the person
or persons, who are willing to carry out such activities subsequent to the exploration
phase, are, by virtue of law, required to obtain an operation license (maden işletme
ruhsatı). In this regard, the mine operation license is defined as “the authorization
certificate given for the purpose of conducting operational activities” by the Article 3
of the Law.

Considering both the purpose and the wording of the Law along with its secondary
legislation (Madencilik Faaliyetleri Uygulama Yönetmeliği) in place, it could be
pointed out that the mine operation license not only grants an authorization as such,
but also constitutes a “right” (hak) for the licence holder. In other words, mine
operation license truly embodies what is precisely meant by the “mining rights”
(maden hakkı). In addition to this, “license law” (ruhsat hukuku) is defined as “a
combined set of rights and obligations of license-holders stemming from the license
itself (irrespective of it being exploration or operation)”.
CONCLUSION

Mining is an extremely crucial sector that provides the necessary raw materials for
several industries. The mining sector plays a significant part in the development and
the socio-economical growth of any country as natural resources directly contribute to
its value-added and increasing its employment rate. Our country is characterized by
the wealth and the diversity of its mineral reserves. Therefore, empowering the
production ensures the economic and technological development of the country by
creating employment opportunities and meeting the needs in raw materials of several
sectors.

Although Turkey has a very wide variety of minerals, the mineral wealth has only
been partially explored and known reserves have been developed to the limited
extent. This situation may be an advantage for the country because the country’s
mineral potential could be an important contributor to the wealth of the nation due to
the better technologies in the future.

The main strategy of mining industry should be to encourage exploration and

exploitation activities in the sector to provide necessary low cost and high quality raw
materials demanded by domestic industrial sectors and to increase the
competitiveness of the economy. However, it is impossible to execute mining
activities by ignoring the environmental sensibilities in the era that we are living in.
Using environmental friendly technology and methods, taking necessary precautions
directed to protect and renew the environment should be the minimum necessities in
all the mining processes in the sector.

In spite of its long history of mining and the large potential of mineral resources,
mining shared only about 0.8 percent of Turkey’s gross national product in 1907-
1913 and has not shared more than 2.5 percent in the past decades because of the
lack of capital invsetment available for mining both as public and private funds. In the
long past, Turkey’s mining has been confined to a few minerals and metals such as
chromite, copper, lead, salt and pandermite (Boron) that could be easily exported;
however during the past decades the number of ores and minerals discovered and
mined in Turkey has risen sharply to be over fifty.

The share of primary mining in Turkey’s total fixed capital investment during the past
twenty years has varied between 1.60-5.25 percent, average for the period being
about 2.66 percent. Because of the gradually decreasing rate of fixed investment in
primary mining during the past twenty years, the average annual growth rate of
mining has lagged behind the manufacturing industry and of the overall economy, the
average growth rates from 2000 to 2019 being 2.85 % for mining, 5.81 % for
manufacturing industry and 4.87 % for all Turkey.

The lack of capital investment in mining has to some extent been ofset by heavy flow
of funds from the public sector which has represented about 80 % of total investment
in the sector until 1994; however from 1994 to 1997 private capital’s share in
investment in mining has averaged to be more than seventy percent, partly because
of government’s privatization policies and encouragement of foreign and local private
capital investment in mining.
In Turkish official data on gross domestic product the industry is sub-divided into
mining, manufacturing industry and energy. The assessment of mining in Turkey’s
economy can be made better when mineral based manufacturing industry such as
mineral chemicals, phosphate fertilizers, cement, clay products, ceramics, glass,
ferrous and non-ferrous metals and energy are considered together with primary
mining.

Such an appraisal indicates that Turkey’s both primary mining and value added
(secondary) mining sectors can be defined as self sufficient excluding oil, natural gas
and gold, because Turkey has very low known reserves of these natural resources.
Turkey, same as its middle east neighbours has been a large amount importer of
gold bullion for decades. During the past six decades it is generally accepted that
more than 2500 tons of gold bullion may have been imported into Turkey.

Published official data indicates that after 1985 the gradual liberalization of gold
bullion imports into Turkey has resulted in an outflow of hard currency payments of
more than nine billion U.S. dollars for gold. During the same period the value of crude
oil imports into Turkey has totaled over twenty billion U.S. dollars.

Turkey has always been an importer of crude oil to which natural gas has been
added during the past decade. Other minerals and mineral based commodities
imported in large valumes are metalurgical coal, iron ore, phospate rock, sulphur and
their products. The sharp rise in Turkey’s exports during the past fifteen years has
lowered the very high ratio of oil imports value as a percentage of Turkish exports.

In order to provide the necessary mineral resources for the scientific and
technological development of the country, the mining sector in Turkey is rapidly
expanding. In fact, this sector plays a crucial role in the social and economical growth
of the country, as it ensured about 3% of the total exports value of the country in
2017. In fact, ranked 25th on the list of the global mineral resources producing
countries in 2016, today, Turkey is one of the important mining forces worldwide.
Several factors contributed to this achievment as the diversity and the wealth of the
resources, the developed infrastructure, the disponibility of working force, the
measures adopted by the government to support and empower the sector which
attracted foreign investors and the geographical position of the country which played
a crucial role in the transportation and shipping of the produced materials.

Aside from its significant share in the economy of the country, the mining sector
constantly ensures the development of rural and regional areas near quarries, mines
and processing facilities, significant employment opportunities and the prevention of
internal migration.

Experts predict that the mining sector will continue to grow in the next few years as
its share in the eonomical and social development of the country will continue to
increase. However, several studies highlight that reaching these goals requires a
deeper understanding of the full mining potential of the country by conducting more
intensive exploration studies on the existant and potential mineral resources to
determine with precision the available reserves and their geochemical particularities.
In addition, reducing the country's dependency on energy imports is extremely crucial
to ensure the growth of the mining sector in Turkey.
KAYNAKÇA
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Web sites
immib.org.tr
mapeg.gov.tr
mta.gov.tr
Natural Stone Industry in Turkey - www.turkishstones.org