The two countries will explore cooperation opportunities in Turkish critical mineral projects.
China and the Republic of Türkiye signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to cooperate in all areas related to mining with a focus on critical minerals. The deal was inked last week in China by Turkish energy and resource minister Alparslan Bayraktar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Guanghuatar. Under the agreement, the two sides seek to expand their partnership in the mining industry and explore cooperation opportunities in Turkish critical mineral projects.
Bayraktar’s visit to the People’s Republic was already announced last month when officials from the two countries discussed possible cooperation in the field. Bloomberg then reported that the Ankara government sought to make mining projects within its borders more appealing to foreign investors, especially Chinese.
Turkey is the world’s largest producer of boron (PDF), a critical mineral mainly used to produce chemical compounds. The country also mines various other critical minerals, such as feldspar and cobalt. In 2022, turkey made headlines, announcing the discovery of the world’s second-largest deposit of rare earths near the northwestern city of Eskisehir, with a reported 694 million tons of contained material. However, analysts have repeatedly questioned the resource estimations as well as the quality of the contained raw materials.
Photo: Bedo via Canva
