Emiroğlu, President of the Turkish Miners Association (TMD), stated that the Turkish mining sector has an extremely important position in global markets and said, "Mining is the only sector that can close Turkey's current account deficit."
Speaking to AA correspondent on December 4, World Miners' Day, TMD Chairman Emiroğlu said that new high quality and high grade zinc reserves have recently been identified in the Eastern and Southern Anatolia regions and the operation phase has started.
Stating that the country's gold production has increased compared to last year, Emiroğlu noted that a new copper reserve was found in the Elazığ region and that this is an important resource for the country.
Emiroğlu stated that Turkey realized mineral exports worth 487.2 million dollars in September and 502 million dollars in October, adding, "Unit prices reached a historical peak during the pandemic period we left behind. This supported our mineral exports in value."
Pointing out that Turkey has a rich resource diversity potential for the mining sector, Emiroğlu shared the information that the country is the world's largest exporter of marble, feldspar, travertine and the second largest chrome ore, the largest boron and the third largest natural stone producer and exporter, the world's eighth largest zinc and 10th largest lead producer.
"NEW RESERVES WILL EMERGE"
Emphasizing that Turkey ranks 11th in terms of the world's gold reserves, Emiroğlu said, "Turkey is also the country with the highest gold production among EU countries. These figures I have given reveal the mineral potential of our country. This potential will reveal many new operable mineral reserves with the increase in exploration and new investments."
Reminding that important studies are also being carried out on rare earth elements, which are vital for new technologies, Emiroğlu said, "It is stated that a serious reserve has been identified especially in Eti Maden's Beylikova Mine Field in Eskişehir. We look forward with great excitement to the investments to be made in this field and the end products to be obtained to make serious contributions to our country's economy."
"MINING IS THE ONLY SECTOR THAT CAN CLOSE THE CURRENT ACCOUNT DEFICIT"
Emiroğlu pointed out that Turkey's foreign trade deficit arising from energy and minerals is around 100 billion dollars, and said that the part of the country's current account deficit arising from the import of minerals, metals and gold is around 60 billion dollars.
"WE CAN INCREASE GOLD PRODUCTION TO 100 TONS"
Emphasizing that Turkey has a huge underground wealth, Emiroğlu said, "In 10 years, we can increase exports to 15 billion dollars and gold production to 100 tons. Therefore, mining is the only sector that can close this current account deficit."
Stating that there are global and regional risks as well as country-specific problems in front of the Turkish mining sector, Emiroğlu said, "Conflicts and tensions in different parts of the world are our most important global risks. On the other hand, trade wars between the US and China, protectionism measures, political instabilities all constitute geopolitical risks for the sector."
Reminding that mining investments are big budget, long-term and risky investments, Emiroğlu continued as follows:
"One of the most important risks in our country is the risks arising from the failure to improve the investment environment sufficiently, which is much more painful for us. Mining investments are big budget, long-term and risky investments. In order for these investments to be realized, first of all, exploration and operation licenses must be secured. Investors who cannot see this assurance are fleeing from this sector."
"AS A SECTOR, WE HAVE THE EXPERIENCE TO MEET OUR COUNTRY'S RAW MATERIAL NEEDS"
Emphasizing that production is carried out in Turkey in accordance with international standards, Emiroğlu said: "We apply the same measures in our country as those applied in developed countries regarding the environment and human health in mining. As a sector, we have advanced technology, know-how and human resources to meet the raw material needs of our country."
Emphasizing that despite all the technological equipment used and all the measures taken, sad accidents can occur from time to time in the sector, Emiroğlu said that as the Turkish Miners Association, they are actively working to improve occupational health and safety (OHS) in the mining sector with the idea that "every accident can be prevented".
Emiroğlu mentioned that they have prepared the Roadmap of Safe Mining to improve OHS conditions in the mining sector, and said, "We have also established an OHS Committee within our association to follow the OHS legislation, prepare the OHS Handbook and ensure consensus among members in this field. This committee plays an active role in promoting the OHS culture in the mining sector."
Stating that miners are the heroes of a very difficult and honorable profession that extracts the underground riches of the country, provides raw materials to the industry, contributes to the national economy and employment, Emiroğlu said:
"Our profession is not easy. It requires expertise, technical knowledge, experience, but above all, it requires people who are dedicated to mining. I congratulate December 4, World Miners' Day of all our miners who dedicate themselves to this profession, bring together the underground resources of our country with daylight, and enlighten our tomorrow with the ore they extract."