Turkey opens $500m facility to boost processing of gold reserves

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has opened the first phase of a $500 million gold mine facility that will process reserves found in the northwestern Bilecik province, Daily Sabah newspaper reported.

Around 109 tons of gold was located in Bilecik’s Sogut district in December 2020 at an estimated value of around $6.38 billion.

Erdogan said that the project’s first stage had been completed with an investment of around $70 million. The three-staged investment in the gold mine in Sogut is planned to reach $500 million.

“In the first stage, this facility will operate with an annual gold production capacity of up to 2.5 tons,” he said.

The facility is expected to reach up to 6.5 tons in the later stages, accounting for nearly 15 percent of the country’s annual gold output.

“We plan to finalise investments in the remaining two phases within three years. Thus, we will hopefully increase the annual production amount to about 6.5 tons,” the president added.

According to the news report, Turkey produced 42 tons of gold in 2020, contributing $2.4 billion to the exchequer. 

Erdogan said there are plans to boost domestic gold production through new discoveries.

“We need to use the potential of our country in gold, just as we are doing in every field, at the highest level in order to ensure a balance in our foreign trade,” he said.