Türkiye to become one of top 5 countries producing rare earths: Bayraktar

Türkiye will become one of the five countries in the world producing rare earth elements when the industrial facility in the province of Eskişehir becomes operational, Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has said.

Türkiye aims high in the mining industry and sets the target of becoming a net exporter in this field, Bayraktar said after paying a visit to the plant in Eskişehir.

A pilot plant was established in Eskişehir, and it will be turned into an industrial facility, the minister noted.

"When this transformation into the industrial facility is completed, Türkiye will rank among the world's top five producers of rare earth elements," Bayraktar said.

The world's second-largest rare earth element reserve was discovered in Eşkisehir's Beylikova site in 2022.

"There are some 690 million tons of rare earth ores in this field," the minister said.

He recalled that the pilot plant was inaugurated by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in April.

"The industrial facility will initially process 1,200 tons of ores. Depending on the assessments of the preliminary results, the facility will process 570,000 tons of ores and 10,000 tons of rare earth oxide annually," said Bayraktar.

Presently, China is the largest producer of rare earths, followed by the United States.