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Turkey has discovered an enormous rare earth mineral reserve, big enough to supply the world’s electronic needs for decades to come.
According to the Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, the country has uncovered 694 million metric tonnes of the minerals in the Western region of Eskişehir. If these reports are correct, this reserve is the second largest on earth, beaten only by China’s 800 million.
The deposits are also reportedly close to the earth’s surface, which will make extracting them relatively easy.
Rare earth minerals are commonly used in electronics, as well as vehicles – particularly electric cars, used for permanent-magnet DC motors and certain forms of batteries. However, the market has historically been viewed as unstable long-term considering so much of the global supply is owned by China. China controls over half of global rare earth output capacity.
China has previously weaponised this advantage, such as in 2010 when it banned rare earth exports to Japan over a territory dispute. This caused electronic prices to soar in Japan.
As far back as 2011, the UN has warned how “green economies” are vulnerable to rare earth mineral shortages.
Now with a newfound supply in Turkey – which is a NATO member – the global market could be significantly more stable going forward.
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