President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Friday opened a vast gold mine facility that will process reserves discovered in the northwestern Bilecik province in late 2020.
Around 109 tons of gold was discovered in the mining field of Turkish Agricultural Credit Cooperatives’ subsidiary Gübretaş in Bilecik’s Söğüt district in December 2020. It is estimated to be worth around TL 120 billion (around $6.38 billion).
Addressing the opening ceremony, Erdoğan said the first stage of the project has been completed with an investment of around $70 million. The total amount of three-staged investment in the gold mine in Söğüt is planned to reach $500 million, he noted.
"In the first stage, this facility will operate with an annual gold production capacity of up to 2.5 tons," Erdoğan noted. The figure is expected to reach up to 6.5 tons in the later stages, accounting for some 15% of Türkiye’s annual gold production.
"We plan to finalize investments of the remaining two phases within three years. Thus, we will hopefully increase the annual production amount to about 6.5 tons," Erdoğan added.
Türkiye produced 42 tons of gold in 2020, the highest level ever, making a $2.4 billion contribution to the economy. Erdoğan said the country's annual gold production stood at 35 tons on average.
"We aim to boost domestic gold production with the new discoveries we will make. 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," Erdoğan said.
The facility in Bilecik currently employs 1,000 people, a figure that Erdoğan said is expected to reach 1,300 in the coming period.
In 2008, the field was handed over to Koza Altın for operations but was transferred to Gübretaş in December 2019 following a lawsuit for the cancellation of the contract after the former failed to fulfill its obligation.
Koza was seized and handed over to Türkiye’s Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (TMSF) owing to its links to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), which was behind the July 15, 2016, coup attempt.
Türkiye aims to reach a level where it produces 100 metric tons of gold per year in the next five years, according to Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez.
