25 more mining projects revealed in Adıyaman: Here are the types of mines putting the Euphrates at risk...

While the cyanide gold mine in the İliç district of Erzincan has sparked public outcry, it has been revealed that there are 25 mining projects in Adıyaman.

On December 14, 2023, a question posed by Van MP Sinan Çiftyürek, "How many mining projects in total are planned to be opened in Adıyaman?" was answered by Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Alparslan Bayraktar on January 17, 2024.

"64 LICENSED MINES"

The response signed by Minister Bayraktar included the following statements:

"There are 64 licenses with operating permits in our province of Adıyaman. There may be more than one quarry area within the licensed fields, and there are a total of 74 mining quarries in these permitted areas, 63 of which are open-pit and 11 of which are underground. The distribution by type of operation and district is provided in the table below."

Minister Bayraktar also stated that there are 25 planned projects that have not yet been granted operating permits, and shared the following:

25 PROJECTS REVEALED

"Production of copper, basalt, feldspar, limestone, chrome, lead, zinc, lignite, manganese, marl, marble, and trass is carried out in the licensed areas in our province of Adıyaman. There are 25 planned projects that have not yet received operating permits, consisting of 24 operating licenses and 1 exploration license with an operating request. The distribution of the planned mining operations, whose types will be finalized during the operating permit stage, by district and type is provided in the table below."

CONCERN FOR THE EUPHRATES

Following the mining disaster in İliç, projects in other cities through which the Euphrates flows—Sivas, Tunceli, Elazığ, Malatya, Diyarbakır, Adıyaman, Gaziantep, and Şanlıurfa—have become a subject of concern and curiosity.

The Euphrates River also holds international significance as it flows into the Persian Gulf.