Turkey's Mining Potential

Turkey has a lot of potential for mining but in terms number of mining companies operating in the country and the total production it is well behind other countries.

The country has 0.4 percent share in total global metal reserves, while it upholds a 2.5 percent share in the global industrial raw materials reserve. Turkey also has a 1 percent share in global coal reserves and 0.8 percent in global geothermal potential. Turkey is especially rich when it comes to boron. The country has a 72 percent share in the global boron reserves, with estimated reserves of just over 3 billion tons of boron.

...Turkey's gold potential is estimated at 6,500 tons. With this figure, Turkey ranks second in the world in terms of potential. Studies undertaken up to this point have revealed 600 tons of gold assets, which constitute only 10 percent of the existing potential. So far 50 tons of gold have been extracted from gold fields around the country.

...Turkey ranks seventh in the global list of countries with geothermal energy potential. The county ranks at the top in a similar list gathered just for European countries. Turkey is also among the global top five with its current geothermal energy direct utilization capacity, which is 229 thermal megawatts.

...Turkey's coal reserve, which has stood at 8.3 billion tons for the past 20 to 25 years, has been expanded by 28 percent via drillings implemented in the past three years. The country's coal reserve increased by 2.3 million tons, after the 300,000-meter-deep drillings yielded good results. Meanwhile, Turkey's total lignite reserve also increased to 10.6 billion tons. (more)