Questions remain unanswered despite licence being granted

İlayda Sorku

An operating licence has been granted to the complex ore mine, ore preparation and enrichment, and storage pilot facility in Beylikova, Eskişehir, which also houses Rare Earth Elements (NTE). The Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NDK) announced that it had granted a licence to the facility on 4 August after evaluating the application of the General Directorate of Eti Mine Works.

Most recently, at the end of 2025, although the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources stated in its response to a parliamentary question by the YENİ Party Eskişehir Member of Parliament İbrahim Arslan that ore had been extracted at the site since 2023 within the scope of trial production, it did not provide information on how many tonnes of ore were extracted, how much of it was processed, how much was stockpiled, or turned into waste. How much production the pilot facility has actually carried out to date and whether it operates at full capacity has also not been disclosed.

Furthermore, questions regarding whether foreign, subcontracting, or consulting companies are operating at the site were also left unanswered in the Ministry's response. The government only reported that there was no work underway to export the extracted ore in a raw or semi-processed state. No information was shared regarding where and how the ore is being utilised.

According to the project file, which received a positive Environmental Impact Assessment  decision in 2021, the Kızılcaören complex ore deposit holds a run-of-mine complex ore reserve of 30,358,268 tonnes with an average grade of 3.14 per cent Rare Earth Oxides (NTO). The deposit is one of the world’s largest lanthanide deposits in terms of the NTEs it contains.

HOW WILL IT BE PROCESSED?

In the first phase of the project, a pilot facility with an annual ore processing capacity of 1,200 tonnes was envisaged. It was aimed to produce 35 tonnes of NTO per year in the pilot phase, and to reach an annual NTO production of 5,000 tonnes at the main facility planned to be established later. At full capacity, it was planned to produce 10,000 tonnes of NTE concentrate per year.

Strategic superiority in NTEs does not merely come from extracting the ore from the ground. The separation, purification, and conversion of the elements into products required by the high-technology industry are the stages where the actual added value is created.

TRUMP HAD HIS EYE ON IT

NTEs are one of the critical topics of the economic and geopolitical struggle between the US and China due to China's superiority in the production and processing chain. For these elements, which are used in many areas from the defence industry to electric vehicles, and from wind turbines to satellite systems, Washington is in search of new supply sources that will reduce its dependence on China. Beylikova is also one of the important topics on Turkey's foreign policy agenda.

In 2025, main opposition leader Özgür Özel stated that President Erdoğan of the AKP would give the resources in Beylikova to Trump. Noting that handing over NTEs to US companies in the form of ore would put Turkey's future at risk, Özel stated that the "goose that lays the golden egg" should not be slaughtered, using the expressions, "He went and bargained over the rare elements. He is giving these mines in Eskişehir Beylikova to Trump, and receiving legitimacy in return." Erdoğan rejected this claim, stating that there was no transfer to any country, and that negotiations were being held with expert organisations from different countries for technology development, consultancy, and technology transfer. Although the government states that Beylikova has not been given to any country, the information available to the public is still extremely limited. The NDK's licence has paved the way for the operation, but questions about how and with whom the facility will be operated, and where the resulting value will remain, are still unanswered.

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Lisans çıksa da sorular yanıtsız, published in BirGün newspaper on August 20, 2026.