By: AGBI

Turkey will begin work next year to set up an industrial-scale facility to process its rare earth reserves, with operations expected to start within two years, energy and natural resources minister Alparslan Bayraktar said.

Production is ongoing at the pilot plant established in 2020 in the Beylikova district of central Eskişehir province, the Daily Sabah newspaper quoted the minister as saying. The facility became operational in 2023.

The plant “is moving into the second phase, which involves transforming it into a large-scale industrial facility”, he said. He did not specify the plant’s processing capacity or the cost of investment.

The minister said rare earth exploration is underway in other provinces, including Isparta, Malatya and Sivas.

In May Bayraktar described the rare earth sector as a pillar of Turkey’s economic security and industrialisation strategies.

Meanwhile, Turkey is preparing to drill shale oil wells at four sites in southeastern Diyarbakır province, Bayraktar said.

Ankara signed agreements with US-based Continental Resources and TransAtlantic Petroleum in March to develop shale oil in the Diyarbakır basin and shale gas in the Thrace region.

Bayraktar said Turkey produces about 15,000 barrels of oil per day in Iraq.

The goal is to increase output tenfold through expanded operations in Basra, Kirkuk and northern Iraq, he said.