Highlights

• Turkey's Energy Minister announced a dual-track strategy:
  • Developing Beylikova's claimed second-largest rare earth reserve
  • Pursuing 6.1 billion barrels of shale oil in Diyarbakır through U.S. partnerships
• Beylikova district holds critical minerals (cerium, neodymium, praseodymium) with pilot production underway.
• An industrial-scale processing facility is planned within two years under state-owned Eti Maden.
• Global reserve ranking remains unverified without transparent tonnage data.
• Turkey's refining ambitions face the same cost and complexity challenges confronting all non-Chinese REE processors.

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Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Minister Alparslan Bayraktar has unveiled a sweeping plan: ramp up shale oil and gas exploration while fast-tracking development of what he calls the world’s second-largest rare earth element (REE) reserve in Beylikova, Eskişehir. This dual-track energy strategy positions Türkiye as a new contender across both the hydrocarbon and strategic minerals frontiers — a convergence few nations have yet managed.

Agreements with U.S. firms Continental Resources and TransAtlantic Petroleum could unlock an estimated 6.1 billion barrels of shale oil in Diyarbakır, while natural-gas targets in Thrace may mirror the U.S. fracking playbook. Simultaneously, Türkiye plans to break ground next year on an industrial-scale REE processing facility — an ambition that, if realized, would place it alongside China and Australia in the global race for critical-mineral sovereignty.

This update was covered first by Daily Sabah (opens in a new tab).

The Beylikova Reserve: Promise or Mirage?

The Beylikova district holds cerium, praseodymium, and neodymium — cornerstone materials for permanent magnets used in EV motors and defense electronics. Bayraktar claims pilot-plant operations are already producing output, with full industrial launch expected within two years under state-owned Eti Maden.

Here’s what’s verifiable: Turkey’s General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA) has indeed drilled roughly 125 km of core, confirming multi-element mineralization. Yet the “second-largest reserve” claim remains speculative. Independent tonnage estimates have not been peer-reviewed or benchmarked against Chinese, Australian, or Brazilian deposits. Without transparent data on total rare-earth oxides (TREO%) and recovery rates, investors should treat the label as aspirational rather than empirical.

Between Washington and Beijing: Türkiye’s Tightrope

Bayraktar’s insistence that no REE sales agreement exists with the U.S. aligns with public records — recent memoranda concern nuclear cooperation, not mineral trade. However, geopolitical timing matters. As Washington and Brussels scramble to diversify away from China’s >90% dominance in processing, Ankara’s resource nationalism gives it bargaining power. Turkey could become a swing supplier, but only if refining and separation capacity — the true bottleneck in the REE chain — materialize.

For now, Beylikova remains a pilot-to-plant transition story, not yet an export pipeline. The country’s refining ambitions face the same challenge confronting every aspiring non-Chinese player: the cost, complexity, and environmental footprint of solvent extraction.

Summary

This Rare Earth Exchanges report evaluates Türkiye’s latest energy strategy, separating validated facts (pilot-scale production, U.S. shale deals, state-ownership via Eti Maden) from speculative claims (global ranking of reserves, unverified tonnage). It highlights how Ankara’s bid to industrialize REE processing could reshape supply-chain geopolitics if — and only if — it overcomes the refining chokepoint.

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