Ankara: Trkiye's untapped underground potential could reap $3.5 trillion and alleviate the country's trade deficit of upwards of $60 billion every year, the head of the Turkish Mining Association told Anadolu.

According to Anadolu Agency, Trkiye's total trade deficit reached $49.3 billion in the first six months of the year, including $20.8 billion from the mining and quarrying sector. Mining exploration and licensing areas cover only 7.7 million hectares (19 million acres) of the country's total 302.5 million square miles. Land with operating licenses accounts for 0.1% of the total land area, while only one in every 200 exploration licenses can be turned into an operating license.

Mining activities in forests make up 0.1% of Trkiye's total land area, while post-mining rehabilitation of the land and reforestation efforts - legal obligations of mining operations - have been done in just 43.72 sq mi (113.2 sq kilometers) of land to date.

Mehmet Yilmaz, the group's head, stated that Trkiye does not use its underground potential to alleviate its trade deficit, stressing that mining should be one of the country's leading sectors. He highlighted that other countries like the US, Canada, Australia, Russia, China, and India consider their mining sectors as key leading sectors, and described the Turkish mining industry's foreign dependence as 'unacceptable.'

Yilmaz emphasized that all mining activities prioritizing local communities and the environment for sustainability should be given support, mentioning the debate over olive fields. He expressed the need to optimize mining processes, as it is crucial for national interests.

Yilmaz pointed out that Trkiye's boron reserves make up 73% of the world's total, but the production of value-added products made from boron remains limited. Refined boron products to key sectors like glass, fertilizer, batteries, and the defense industry could generate up to $2 billion in additional revenue, while processed marble exports could contribute $1.5 billion to national income.

He stressed that Trkiye boasts 5,000 tons of gold reserves, with the potential to reach 10,000 tons through updates, and mentioned the importance of minerals like lithium, graphite, and rare earth minerals for electric vehicles (EVs), wind turbines, and solar panels. Yilmaz highlighted the need to mine significantly more to unlock this potential.

Yilmaz also noted that defense, energy transition, and high-tech sectors depend on critical minerals, and that Trkiye has strategic reserves of lithium, silver, titanium, iron, manganese, zinc, copper, and aluminum. He pointed out that electric vehicles use six times more minerals than regular vehicles, while offshore wind turbines use 13 times more minerals than a natural gas power plant. Trkiye's target of adding 60 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2035 will further contribute to the demand for mining input in the country.