Mehmet Yılmaz, President of the Gold Miners Association and Chairman of TÜPRAG, announced Turkey's first five-year mining course. Yılmaz drew particular attention to the emphasis on "mining" in the 12th Development Plan and the Medium Term Program (MTP), which includes the main macroeconomic targets. Stating that the mining route set in the new century of the Republic has created excitement in the sector, Yılmaz said that the mining sector, which has an import burden of 60 billion dollars in Turkey's foreign trade deficit, is targeting 15 billion dollars in exports and 60 tons of gold production annually in the first 5 years.
On December 4, World Miners' Day, Yılmaz made important statements about the sector, sharing Turkey's new mining route drawn on the axis of sustainable mining principles and drawing attention to the green transformation in the global mining sector. Yılmaz also evaluated Turkey's potential in critical minerals used in green transformation, the demand for which has more than doubled in the last 5 years.
60 BILLION DOLLAR IMPORT BURDEN
Turkey has an average import burden of 60 billion dollars from minerals and mining products. For this reason, the mining sector is extremely important in terms of alleviating economic dependence on foreign imports and the current account deficit. The Medium Term Program (MTP), which includes basic macroeconomic targets such as inflation, employment and growth for the 2024-2026 period, and the 12th Development Plan, which covers the 2024-2028 period, aim to reduce foreign dependency in the sector by emphasizing bringing mineral resources into the economy, conducting mining activities within the framework of sustainable development principles with an integrated management system, and improving the investment environment. The mining sector, which sets targets in line with the course set by the economic administration, states that Turkey's current account deficit burden will be alleviated if our mineral assets with a known value of 3.5 trillion dollars are brought into the economy, and that mining plays a locomotive role in this sense.
TOTAL KNOWN MINERAL WEALTH WORTH 3.5 TRILLION DOLLARS
Mehmet Yılmaz, President of the Gold Miners Association and Chairman of the Board of Directors of TÜPRAG, emphasized that it is of critical importance to establish a supply chain that can reduce import dependency in critical minerals and minerals that have an impact on the current account deficit, especially in the development of national mineral reserves, and to encourage investments. Mehmet Yılmaz said the following on the subject: "The MTP underlined the principles of responsible and sustainable mining and pointed out the importance of realizing exploration and operation activities in international standards and expanding policies to bring underground riches to the national economy. The 12th Development Plan, which was adopted by the General Assembly of the Turkish Grand National Assembly and covers the years 2024-2028, similarly emphasizes the importance of developing a holistic and institutional strategy for mining. The Development Plan also emphasizes critical issues that we, as sector components, are sensitive to, such as encouraging the use of technology to increase productivity in mining operations, improving compliance with environmental and OHS legislation and reducing bureaucratic processes in permit processes. These developments made us happy. Because one of the biggest problems facing mining in Turkey in recent years has been the lengthy permitting procedures. This was a situation that hindered the progress of the mining sector, costing the sector time and reducing the confidence of miners in the sector. In the light of these policies, coordinating mining from a single source will mean that certain duplication in inter-institutional communication will be prevented. Turkey's current account deficit is around 130 billion dollars in total. Of this deficit, 60 billion dollars is due to mining, of which about 30 billion dollars is due to gold. On the other hand, our annual mining export average is around 6.5 billion dollars. The potential and target of the sector is to increase this to 15 billion dollars. Considering that the total known mineral wealth of our country is worth 3.5 trillion dollars, our duty is to mobilize our underground potential by adhering to the criteria of occupational safety, environment, public and public relations and financial transparency, which form the basis of sustainable mining principles. Considering the economic and geopolitical conjuncture in neighboring countries, we believe that it is essential to produce our own mineral resources in terms of supply chain and strategic security."
300 BILLION DOLLARS OF GOLD POTENTIAL MUST BE BROUGHT INTO THE ECONOMY
Stating that as of 2024, the sector aims to increase export and production figures in the 5-year period, and in the long term, to meet the raw material needs of the industry and reduce foreign dependency, Yılmaz continued as follows: "According to studies conducted in the early 1990s, our country has a gold potential of 6,500 tons. We have identified 1,500 tons of this and are operating it. We have extracted around 450 tons of gold so far. The remaining 5,000 tons of gold potential needs to be found and brought into the economy. According to our current calculation, this corresponds to a potential of 300 billion dollars. We can increase our gold production rate, which is currently 35-40 tons per year, to 50-60 tons in the first 5 years and then to 100 tons. According to unofficial figures, we estimate that we will produce 31 tons of gold this year, which is more than the 31 tons produced in 2022. We will update the estimated production figures in January and share them with the public."
WE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SHOW SUCCESSFUL EXAMPLES
Mehmet Yılmaz underlined that mining activities are carried out on only 3 thousandths of the 23.2 million hectares of forests covering 29.8 percent of the country's surface area. Stating that mining companies rehabilitate the relevant areas in the enterprises that have completed their economic life and hand them over to the forest administration in accordance with the forest legislation, Yılmaz reminded that "delays in forest permits and the rejection decisions given to the permit requests of the licenses that have continued their production activities within the framework of the investments made and the rules of the legislation until today" have brought mining activities to the point where they cannot be carried out. Yılmaz said, "After all, the forests are ours and the mines are ours. We are a sector that acts by saying 'people and the environment first' without the dilemma of 'forest or mine'. Our footprint in the forest area is limited. In this sense, we need to discuss what the real patriotic approach is and find the right one together. When we fail to do this, we cause serious damage to our country without realizing it. Our biggest goal is to show the public that the most successful examples of sustainable mining exist in this country. I believe that if we achieve this, those who see 'mining as an enemy of forests and the environment' will be embarrassed. Sustainable mining, mining with high standards, mining that respects the local people and protects nature are indispensable for us."
TURKEY HAS AN ADVANTAGE IN THE 'GREEN RACE'
Stating that the demand for lithium will increase 42 times, graphite 25 times, cobalt 21 times, nickel 19 times and rare earth elements seven times in 2040 compared to 2020 in the International Energy Agency's (IEA) "The Role of Critical Minerals in Clean Energy Transformation" report, Yılmaz said that Turkey, which has the world's highest boron reserves with 73 percent, has started to produce lithium from boron waste in Eskişehir by Eti Maden and that Turkey has an important advantage in the green race. Stating that the demand for critical minerals used in green technologies, especially electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines, has more than doubled in the world in the last 5 years, Yılmaz said that according to the Critical Minerals Market Assessment report published by the IEA for the first time this year, supply investments in critical minerals will grow by 30 percent in 2022 compared to the previous year and exceed 40 billion dollars in order to meet this increasing demand in the world.
NO 'GREEN TRANSFORMATION' WITHOUT 'MINING'
Emphasizing that Turkey ranks among the world's best with its underground riches and that it has a significant wealth to turn mining into a locomotive sector, Yılmaz said: "Another critical issue emphasized in both policy texts recently put forward by our government is the emphasis on the exploration of strategic and critical minerals, the expansion of production activities and exports. In addition, it has been proven once again in these texts that minerals, which have been the source of the development of human life throughout history, also constitute a solution point for today's fundamental problems; the importance of raw materials such as nickel, lithium and cobalt in the demand for green technology has been emphasized. There are approximately 90 types of minerals in the world, 80 of which are available in our country. We are a very rich country in terms of mineral diversity. Boron, which is included in the EU's list of critical minerals and where approximately 73 percent of the world's reserves are located in Turkey, is one of the minerals where R&D processes are concentrated. We have lithium and thorium deposits, which we cannot clearly identify but which we think have serious potential. Our state's research institutions are conducting extremely meticulous studies on these deposits. The first thing people think of when they think of green transformation is electrification, and the importance of switching from fossil fuels to electricity is pointed out. One of the most important elements for us to achieve this is the process of storing energy. In storage, when battery technology comes to the agenda, we are confronted with mining. You have to produce more copper, zinc, cobalt, nickel, lithium, lead. Therefore, for a green world, for green transformation, we have to do more mining. It is not possible to make the green transformation without mining. While doing this, we need to limit our impact on ecological components, namely air and water, use energy as little as possible and transform what is used."
"OUR MAIN GOAL IS SAFE PRODUCTION"
Stating that occupational safety, which is one of the most important pillars of the sustainable mining principles determined by the economic administration, is of vital importance, Yılmaz said: "We believe that all occupational accidents can be prevented, and at TÜPRAG, we fulfill our responsibility to send every employee who enters the sites home safely and happily at night with the 10 golden rules we implement at our Efemçukuru and Kışladağ Gold Mining Operations. We provide trainings almost twice the legal limits for employees to adopt and implement these 10 golden rules, which include driving safety, ground stability, protective equipment, safe lifting, fitness for work, working at height, tools and equipment, energy isolation and hazardous substances. Our employees have the right to refuse work if working conditions are not suitable. This is an important authority given to the employee. It is indispensable that the occupational safety culture is adopted from the top to the bottom. We are establishing this culture with the trainings we provide and the incentive practices we implement to ensure that these trainings are internalized. With training and awareness, we emphasize that our main goal is not to produce but to 'produce safely'. We also carry out two important activities on the NGO side in the field of occupational safety. One of them is the search and rescue competitions we organize every two years as the Turkish Miners' Association, and the other is the internationally organized symposium on occupational safety in mines."
"MINERS WROTE AN EPIC IN FEBRUARY 6 EARTHQUAKE"
Yılmaz said that search and rescue trainings provided within the scope of occupational safety are critical in natural disasters. Yılmaz's messages on this subject on the occasion of December 4, World Miners' Day, are as follows: "We have painfully experienced how vital search and rescue activities are in earthquakes and natural disasters during the February 6 Kahramanmaraş earthquake. This painful experience resonated with the public as people realized the importance of mining and got to know miners. Our miners did not hesitate for a moment to go under the rubble and save our people without blinking an eye. Here, we should especially give credit to our search and rescue teams, who have received at least 90-100 hours of additional training in addition to our occupational safety training, and came together for such difficulties. Within the first five hours of the earthquake, our search and rescue teams went to the region with the first military airplanes and landed in the field. Both our own team at TÜPRAG and the teams of our other mining companies took their place at the forefront as the response team with their equipment and manpower. Mining companies wrote an epic to extract our lives from the rubble, to protect those who were rescued, to provide them with material equipment, to create a protective shield prioritizing women and children, and to meet humanitarian needs. This was another responsibility that our work imposed on us. Miners play an indispensable role in natural disasters. Therefore, for us, December 4th is not a day when mining is talked about once a year. Mining is a vital sector that provides resources and raw materials to all other sectors and directly to human life."
WE BORROW FROM NATURE AND RETURN IT BACK
Yılmaz added that production can be carried out with the principle of "people and the environment first", respecting nature, proper use of own resources and the use of environmentally friendly technologies, and finally emphasized that exemplary rehabilitation activities have been carried out. His assessment is as follows: "Environmental sensitivities need to be taken into consideration. We need to return the place we borrowed from nature back to nature with the implementation of monitoring and inspection activities regarding air, water and soil quality through regular measurements, the use of environmentally friendly technologies, waste management, and exemplary rehabilitation activities. We implement our rehabilitation projects according to EIA commitments. At the point of reintroduction to nature, we must preserve the vegetative and endemic structure and replace it without disrupting the habitat there during closure. In this regard, we should create seed selections and pay attention to rehabilitate with the local plant population. We have the chance to return it to nature in a way that is optimized in terms of visual and environmental impact, and it is possible to do this. You can see examples of this in both of our operations at TÜPRAG. We are proving that this system can be realized with our reintroduction efforts that we carry out simultaneously while mining activities continue."
News source: https://madencilikturkiye.com/turkiyenin-ilk-5-yillik-madencilik-rotasi-aciklandi/