Turkey rare earth ambitions rest on a single deposit whose commercial value is far less settled than its headline size suggests. Eti Maden, the state-owned miner developing the Beylikova site in Eskişehir province, puts the reserve at 694 million tons of ore — a figure the government has called the world’s second-largest rare earth reserve after China’s Bayan Obo. The claim is government-sourced and has not been independently certified.
What the Turkey Rare Earth Deposit Actually Contains
Beylikova holds ten of the seventeen rare earth elements alongside thorium, uranium traces, barite and fluorite, according to identification work carried out by Turkey’s General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration before the site was transferred to Eti Maden. Ore grade exceeds 1% total rare earth oxide (TREO), clearing the 0.5–2% profitability threshold typical of bastnäsite-hosted deposits — a benchmark tracked by the USGS Rare Earths Statistics programme.
The complication most coverage of the Turkey rare earth story buries: Beylikova’s mineralogy is weighted toward light rare earth elements (LREE) rather than the heavier, higher-value elements — neodymium, praseodymium, dysprosium, terbium — that dominate magnet demand and command the steepest premiums. Light rare earth oxides currently trade in the $5–10/kg range, a fraction of NdPr or dysprosium pricing on benchmarks published by Shanghai Metals Market. A 694-million-ton ore figure is not equivalent to 694 million tons of strategically scarce material.
Processing Is the Real Bottleneck
Eti Maden has run a pilot plant at Beylikova since 2023, processing 1,200 tons of ore annually using physical and chemical separation methods. Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar told the OECD Critical Minerals Forum in Istanbul on 28 April 2026 that the facility is “moving toward industrial-scale production including separation” — a ministerial characterisation rather than an independently confirmed milestone. The stated target is a $600 million industrial facility processing 570,000 tons of ore annually, producing roughly 10,000 tons of rare earth oxides per year, by 2027.
Separating individual rare earth oxides requires solvent extraction technology that China controls roughly 80–90% of globally. Turkey’s own minister has openly acknowledged the gap. A 2024 memorandum of understanding with China stalled over China’s refusal to transfer technology, pushing Ankara toward the US, Canada and Switzerland, and toward an expanded critical-minerals dimension within Turkey’s existing energy partnership with Germany, confirmed in June 2026.
A Domestic Dispute Over the Turkey Rare Earth Reserve
The Beylikova story has become entangled in Turkish domestic politics. Following the September 2025 meeting between US President Donald Trump and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, opposition CHP leader Özgür Özel alleged the government had granted the United States rights to exploit the reserve. Turkey’s Communications Directorate denied any such transfer, and Erdoğan has separately stated the reserve will not be handed to a foreign country. No binding agreement with the US or any other major producer has been confirmed by either side as of this writing.
Security at the site is reportedly comparable to that at a nuclear facility, a function of the thorium and uranium present in the ore — the deposit’s processing license sits with Turkey’s Nuclear Regulatory Board for that reason.
Where Turkey Rare Earth Production Fits the Global Picture
China accounts for roughly 70% of global rare earth mine production and close to 90% of refining and separation capacity, against a global REE oxide market estimated at 350,000 tonnes annually and projected to grow from around $12 billion to more than $37 billion by 2033. Against that backdrop, Turkey’s rare earth pitch is geographic and political as much as geological — a Europe-facing, NATO-aligned alternative node, similar in narrative shape to Kyrgyzstan’s own stalled China deal and subsequent pivot West. Whether Beylikova delivers depends on separation technology Turkey doesn’t yet have, independent certification it hasn’t yet obtained, and a domestic political question that remains unresolved. For now, the Turkey rare earth story belongs alongside other Middle East and bridging-region deposits still some years from commercial-scale output, rather than among operating Western alternatives to China’s rare earth export controls.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
Where is Turkey’s main rare earth deposit located?
Turkey’s flagship rare earth deposit is at Beylikova, in Eskişehir province, operated by state-owned miner Eti Maden. The site also contains thorium, uranium traces, barite and fluorite alongside the rare earth mineralisation.
Is Turkey’s rare earth reserve really the second-largest in the world?
Turkey’s government has described the 694-million-ton ore figure at Beylikova as the world’s second-largest rare earth reserve, after China’s Bayan Obo deposit. The figure is sourced to Eti Maden and the Turkish government and has not yet been independently certified by a body such as JORC.
Why hasn’t Turkey started large-scale rare earth production?
Turkey currently operates only a small pilot processing plant. Scaling to industrial production requires rare earth separation technology that is concentrated overwhelmingly in China, which Turkey has not yet secured through its own development or international partnerships.
Is Turkey’s rare earth deposit weighted toward valuable elements like neodymium and dysprosium?
Beylikova’s ore is weighted toward light rare earth elements rather than the heavier elements that command the highest prices and dominate magnet demand. This grade composition is a key qualifier on claims about the deposit’s commercial significance.
Has China helped develop Turkey’s rare earth deposit?
Turkey and China discussed a memorandum of understanding on rare earth development, but talks stalled over China’s refusal to transfer separation technology. Turkey has since pursued partnerships with other countries instead.
