Turkey aims to be among top rare earth producers

Reuters/Fahad Shadeed

Turkey plans to boost its production of rare earth elements and be among the top five producers in the world, its energy and natural resources minister, Alparslan Bayraktar, has announced.

The country uncovered the world’s second-largest rare earth element reserve in Eskişehir’s Beylikova district in 2022, the Daily Sabah newspaper reported.

The reserves of ore at the site are estimated at 690 million tonnes, the minister confirmed, adding that the first stage of a pilot plant has been set up.

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The industrial facility will initially process 1,200 tonnes of ore, increasing to 570,000 tonnes and 10,000 tonnes of rare earth oxide annually.

“This will bring us to a very important point in our industry, especially for our electric vehicles, as well as in renewable energy technologies,” Bayraktar said.

Ankara will become an important supplier of these raw materials and rare earth elements to the world, the minister said.

China supplies more than 60 percent of the world’s rare earth elements and holds roughly two thirds of scarce metals and minerals globally, the German market data platform Statista says.