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Turkey is attempting to position itself as a new player in the global rare earth elements (REEs) market, yet the country continues to face significant technological, economic and geopolitical obstacles in transforming extensive underground reserves into a functioning industrial ecosystem.

Turkey is attempting to position itself as a new player in the global rare earth elements (REEs) market, yet the country continues to face significant technological, economic and geopolitical obstacles in transforming extensive underground reserves into a functioning industrial ecosystem.

A January 3 letter by Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar, a copy of which was obtained by Nordic Monitor, acknowledged Turkey’s limitations, particularly in technology, even though the country reportedly has the world’s fourth-largest REE reserves.

The minister highlighted promising deposits, particularly in Eskişehir’s Beylikova district, where exploration has identified 694 million tons of complex ore containing REEs along with barite, fluorite and thorium. Drilling has extended more than 125,000 meters across 310 locations, and over 59,000 samples have undergone laboratory analysis.

Despite this geological potential, the letter suggests that converting resources into industrial capacity remains elusive.

To process the Beylikova ore, state-owned mining company Eti Maden established the Beylikova Fluorite, Barite and Rare Earth Elements Directorate and in 2023 launched a pilot facility with a capacity of 1,200 tons per year. The plant produces an initial REE concentrate using physical and chemical methods, but the sophisticated technology needed to separate individual rare earth oxides is still under development.

1. We need immediate research and development to improve the existing technologies. Western world does not have a Rare Earth refining technology that can compete with Chinese technologies.

2. Build refineries in the existing mines with infrastructure using developed technologies.

3. Take the price control of the Rare Earth Elements by tariffs or other means until the local refineries optimize the refining processes and operating cost.

Read more at: https://nordicmonitor.com/2026/01/turkeys-bid-to-develop-rare-earth-minerals-hit-wall-of-technology-restrictions/