According to the information he obtained from Eti Maden, studies are continuing rapidly at the pilot facility where rare earth elements used in many important sectors will be produced.
The facility, which was opened by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on April 18, will process 1200 tons of ore annually.
Lütfi Tozar, Beylikova Fluorite Barite and Rare Earth Elements Operations Manager, told Anadolu Agency (AA) that barite, fluorite and rare earth elements will be produced at the pilot plant in the first place.
“We will do our work for the main industrial facility”
Stating that the goal in the next phase after the pilot plant is to establish an industrial plant that will produce 10 thousand tons of rare earth oxide, Tozar said, “We will start working after this project. We will also produce 70,000 tons of barite and 70,000 tons of fluorite in the large facility.” used the phrases.
Derya Maraşlıoğlu, Head of Technology Development Department, pointed out that all the minerals found in the field have economic value and said, “We have designed our work at the pilot facility to gain them. After this stage, we will continue our work for the main industrial facility. We have a goal for the industrial facility. We also have a certain set of goals to realize it. We need to obtain the parameters. We will study the process in the pilot plant, we will determine the shortcomings and pros.” he said.
“The demand in the rare earth element market is increasing day by day”
Eti Maden General Manager Serkan Keleşer said that Beylikova field is the second with 694 million tons of rare earth element reserves after Bayan Obo field in China, which has a reserve of approximately 800 million tons in the world, and explained the importance of the field for the country.
Noting that the history of the field dates back to the 1950s, Keleşer said that approximately 125 thousand meters of drilling was carried out and 60 thousand samples were taken between 2011-2017, and after 2017 Hacettepe University determined the reserve of the field with these samples.
Noting that there is a trend in the world where the importance of rare earth elements is increasing, Keleşer said that the usage areas of the ore in question also have strategic importance.
Pointing out that there is no other element that can take its place in areas where rare earth elements are used, Keleşer made the following assessment:
“We are talking about indispensable products, even if they are rarely used. In other words, there is no substitute, you have to put them in. If you pay attention, all usage areas are always strategic areas. The demand in the rare earth element market is increasing day by day with the development of technologies. The number of countries that meet this demand is limited in the world. The importance of this field has increased even more. We are talking about products where there is a serious competition in this field and sometimes you can’t buy them even if you pay for them. As such, the importance of our field is also important for the strategic position of our country.”
