Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Bayraktar: Turkey will be one of the 5 countries capable of producing rare earth elements

Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar conducted inspections at the Eskişehir Beylikova Fluorite, Barite and Rare Earth Elements Processing Facility.

Bayraktar, who toured the REE reserve area and entered the gallery opened as part of the exploration work to examine the REE ore, was accompanied during his visit by Eti Maden General Manager Yalçın Aydın.

Bayraktar visited the facility where REEs, which are strategic raw materials for high-tech products, are extracted, observed the process development work carried out at the pilot plant on-site, and received information from officials about the work being done.

Making an assessment after his inspections at the facility, Minister Bayraktar stated that Turkey has very ambitious goals regarding mining, saying, "We are moving forward with a goal set by our President for Turkey to be a net exporter in mining. In line with this goal, we want to develop our mining sector as value-added mining. The facility we are in here is a very striking example of this."

Bayraktar noted that REEs are one of the indispensable elements of new technologies developing in the world, battery technologies, renewable energy technologies, and essentially the energy transition, which is why they are called critical minerals.

GOAL IS TO REACH HIGH CAPACITY

Recalling that it was emphasized at the COP28 Summit held in Dubai that a successful energy transition in the world must be supported by critical minerals to combat climate change, Bayraktar said:

"In this context, as a result of our long-standing research, we have discovered the world's second-largest reserve in a single deposit in Eskişehir Beylikova, at the facility we are currently in and the surrounding fields. The mining operation in Eskişehir will carry Turkey to a very important point in terms of electric vehicles and renewable energy technologies. With the transition to an industrial facility, Turkey will be one of the 5 countries capable of producing REEs and will become a significant supplier in the world. There is approximately 690 million tons of ore here. We established a pilot plant in the first stage regarding the operation of this resource, and our President inaugurated it last April. We will process 1,200 tons of ore in the first stage. As a result of the findings we obtained from this facility, we are continuing our work on establishing an industrial facility that will process 570 thousand tons of ore per year and produce approximately 10 thousand tons of rare earth oxides annually."

Pointing out that this facility and the work here are quite important, Bayraktar stated that serious R&D work is being carried out here and that they have started to receive products.

Stating that the goal is to bring the facility to an industrial base and high capacity levels, Bayraktar assessed, "This is a study that will provide us with a significant advantage in many areas and in newly developing technologies, and will be a process that can put us ahead of other countries. Hopefully, we are continuing our work to realize this in the coming years and as soon as possible."

RARE EARTH ELEMENTS

In the periodic table developed for the classification of chemical elements, REEs consist of 15 elements with atomic numbers from 57 to 71 that show similar chemical properties (Lanthanum, Cerium, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Promethium, Europium, Samarium, Gadolinium, Thulium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Holmium, Erbium, Yttrium, Lutetium), as well as Yttrium and Scandium.

These elements, which tend to be found together due to the similarity of their chemical properties, are called REEs because they are not found in high concentrations in nature.

Refined after being extracted from the soil, REEs are used in many strategic areas ranging from renewable energy technologies to smart missiles, satellite communications to fuel cells, and electric cars to energy storage systems.

China ranks first in terms of resources and production in the field of REEs. It is followed by the USA. Turkey, which has been conducting studies on REEs for a long time, discovered the world's second-largest REE reserve in Eskişehir Beylikova in 2022. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan inaugurated the pilot plant in April. Work on the industrial facility is also ongoing.

News Source: 12punto