 in Beylikova, a district in central Eskişehir province, during his September 25 meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the White House, according to the Sözcü daily.){kind=link}
US President Donald Trump is expected to raise the issue of Turkey’s vast rare earth reserves (REE) in Beylikova, a district in central Eskişehir province, during his September 25 meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at the White House, according to the Sözcü daily.
REEs, a group of 17 chemical elements and one of the indispensable elements of new technologies, are central to US efforts to reduce reliance on China. Trump is expected to seek cooperation with Turkey, which holds the world’s second-largest reserves after China.
These elements, also known as “industrial gold,” are essential for the aerospace, defense, and biomedical industries.
China controls 69 percent of global rare earth production and nearly 90 percent of processing capacity, fueling US and allied efforts to diversify supply. The minerals are used in technologies ranging from smart missiles and satellites to fuel cells and electric vehicles, raising security concerns under China’s dominance.
The Beylikova deposit, discovered in 2022 and estimated at 694 million tons, ranks second only to China’s 800 million tons. A facility opened by the state-run Eti Maden in 2023 contains 17 REEs, including lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium, samarium, gadolinium, europium and neodymium.
US Ambassador to Turkey Thomas Barrack told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in April, when he was an ambassador-designate, that Turkey’s untapped REE resources are a strategic opportunity under Washington’s changing trade and industrial perspective.
He described Turkey as both a key NATO ally and a potential supplier of critical minerals.
Once fully operational, the Beylikova site is expected to produce 570,000 tons annually and generate about $220 million in revenue. US officials view the project as a step toward Trump’s goal of boosting bilateral trade with Turkey to $100 billion.
The Trump administration in April signed a deal with Ukraine that granted the United States a stake in Ukraine’s critical minerals. However, its implementation has stalled due to Russian occupation of key mineral-rich regions, including about half of Ukraine’s rare earth deposits and major sites like Azovske and Mazurivske in Donetsk. These challenges have contributed to Washington’s broader push for cooperation with reliable partners like Turkey to diversify rare earth supplies amid risks from China and ongoing conflicts.
The US currently sources about three-quarters of its rare earth imports from China. By comparison, Turkey’s planned annual output of about 10,000 tons of rare earth oxides would cover only a fraction of US demand, meaning Ankara cannot replace Beijing in the short term. Still, analysts say Turkey’s reserves could make it a valuable long-term partner as Washington works to diversify supply.
Thursday’s meeting between Erdoğan and Trump will be the first visit to the White House by Erdoğan since 2019 during Trump’s first term in office.