TURKEY'S RARE ELEMENTS: CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES - THE BEYLİKOVA CASE
by Mustafa Enes Esen,
Ömer Güler, Harun Güngör and Dr. İmdat Öner
21 May 2026
Executive
Summary
- Turkey
claims that Beylikova contains 694 million tons of rare earth ore.
However, this is a resource estimate rather than a proven reserve, which
requires independent verification that the deposit is technically and
economically viable for extraction. The deposit, therefore, does not
appear in authoritative international reserve rankings.
- Turkey
currently possesses no rare earth processing capability at a commercial scale.
Building genuine processing capacity would require a technology
partnership of considerable depth, which would likely take years to
develop even under favorable conditions.
- Western
partners, while more aligned with Turkey's local processing conditions,
are themselves only beginning to build midstream capabilities. It remains
an open question whether they would be willing to depend on Turkey with a
track record of leveraging strategic assets as geopolitical instruments
and its often unstable relationship with both the US and the EU.
- The
Beylikova ore is highly likely to contain thorium and uranium. These are
naturally occurring radioactive elements commonly found in association
with REE-bearing minerals, but they are not rare earth elements
themselves. Their presence introduces radioactive waste management
challenges for which Turkey has no prior institutional experience.
- Of
1,368 mining project applications submitted in Turkey in 2024, 1,153 were
exempted from comprehensive environmental impact assessments. This pattern
is relevant to assessing whether Turkey's institutions can manage the
hazards associated with rare earth processing involving radioactive
materials.
- The
February 2024 Çöpler mine disaster demonstrates that lax regulation does
not protect operators from disaster. The Turkish partner was shielded from
domestic consequences, while the Western-listed partner was exposed to
international legal and financial liability.
- Turkey
ranked 118th out of 143 countries in the World Justice Project's 2025 Rule
of Law Index. Contract enforceability, judicial independence, and
transparent procurement are foundational conditions for a multi-decade
investment commitment, conditions that Turkey's current governance
framework does not consistently meet.
- The
average time from proven reserve to commercial operation is fifteen to
twenty years. Therefore, commercial-scale production from Beylikova is
unlikely before the mid-2030s under any scenario.
- State-backed
price floors and long-term offtake agreements would be essential to the
project's viability, implying a long-term fiscal commitment that requires
treating rare earth development as strategic infrastructure rather than a
commercial venture.
https://institude.ams3.digitaloceanspaces.com/Turkey_s_Rare_Earth_Elements.pdf
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