Turkey plans to produce 100 t/y in 5 yrs - Minister
ISTANBUL – Turkey aims to increase its domestic gold production to 100 t/y or more in the next five years, Energy Minister Fatih Donmez said on Monday.
In an interview with broadcaster Bloomberg HT, Donmez said Turkey had produced 42 t of gold in 2020, a record high, and it would produce more in 2021.
"The real aim is to increase production to 100 t or more in the next five years," he said, adding Turkey aimed to be among some 10 countries that produce more than 100 t of gold a year.
Turkey imported $26.6-billion worth of gold in 2020, around double that of a year earlier, out of the country's total imports worth some $219.43-billion, based on official data.
Turks have flocked to hard currencies and gold in recent years, especially since the lira's sharp decline last autumn, pushing their non-lira holdings to a record high near $236-billion this month, central bank data showed.
"Our gold imports are really high. Not all of this is used in the jewellery sector, but also as a valuation tool," he said.
"To decrease imports, we need to ensure this increase (in production) so that we don't contribute negatively to the current account deficit," Donmez said.
He had said earlier this month that Turkey has 18 operational gold mines and that 20 more are close to beginning production.
Separately, Donmez said Turkey aimed to begin operations in the electricity forward market in June and also wanted to begin forward operations in the natural gas market in 1 to 1-1/2 years.
Comments
Press Office
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation