"Sustainable Mining"

Miners' motto: "Sustainable Mining" Mines ease human life in every aspect and increase prosperity. With the motto "Our Life is Mining," the priority agenda for miners who bring Turkey's underground wealth to the economy will henceforth be "Sustainable Mining." Emphasizing that mines are the key to societies' welfare and economic development, Aegean Minerals Exporters Association Board Chairman Mevlüt Kaya stated, "While mining is often associated with industry, the reality is Our Life is Mining! Today, the phones we use at home, the bread we eat, the glasses we drink water from, the tablets we never let go of, and products ranging from aircraft to ships all contain different minerals and are indispensable to our lives. Modern healthcare services, banking systems, transportation, heating, food and many other sectors coexist with the mining sector. Given this situation—that 'Our Life is so much about Mining'—we need to both practice sustainable mining and communicate this correctly to the public," he said. Sharing his views on the occasion of 4 December World Mining Day, EMIB Chairman Kaya emphasized "Sustainable Mining." Kaya conveyed the message that they will continue to bring Turkey's underground wealth to the economy while adhering to "Sustainable Mining" principles.

90 percent of the mining sector's exports derive from domestic inputs

Chairman Kaya, who said "Turkey's oil is its mines," continued: "Of the 90 types of minerals in the world, 77 are found in our country. We possess 0.4 percent of the world's metal ore reserves, 2.5 percent of industrial raw material reserves, 1.0 percent of coal reserves, and 0.8 percent of geothermal potential. With the motto 'Sustainable Mining' and the slogan 'Determined Production, Determined Exports,' we will continue to produce and export. Although the COVID-19 virus emerged in China, our largest export market, and we were among the sectors most affected by the pandemic, we earned 3 billion 793 million dollars in foreign currency during January-November 2020. In addition to 4.3 billion dollars in exports in 2019, since we are a sector that supplies raw materials to all sectors alongside the domestic market, we created a value of 40 billion dollars and contributed 5 percent of GDP to the country's economy. More than 90 percent of the economic value we provided consists of domestic inputs, meaning added value remains in our country."

Deferred needs will increase our exports in 2021

Touching on scientists' significant progress toward a vaccine to eliminate COVID-19, Kaya stated, "Thanks to new vaccines, the COVID-19 virus will soon leave our lives, and we will meet many of the needs we have deferred. This process will contribute to accelerating wheels in many sectors, particularly the mining sector, increasing employment and raising exports." Acting with the awareness that they are tenants of the mines owned by Turkey's 83 million inhabitants, Aegean Minerals Exporters Association Chairman Mevlüt Kaya continued: "While extracting mines, one of Turkey's most important indigenous resources, with an army of 150,000 miners and bringing them to the economy with the 'Sustainable Mining' motto, ensuring that 2 million of our people earn their living from the mining sector, we contribute not only to our 83 million people but also to facilitating the lives of 8 billion people in the world. In 2020, we exported Turkish minerals to 200 countries and free zones." Underlining that energy, raw materials, and intermediate goods represent 75 percent of Turkey's total imports, EMIB Chairman Kaya emphasized that while we pay a huge price to purchase energy sources and metals from abroad, we spend approximately 25 billion dollars annually on imported coal, iron ore, gold, copper, lead, zinc, and many minerals and metals, while our own resources still lie underground. Kaya said, "We believe that extracting these underground resources and bringing them to the economy is a national duty. We want to benefit our nation by operating our mines. We say 'Determined Production, Determined Exports.'"

We conduct mining with state permission and supervision

Emphasizing that mining operations in Turkey carry out mining activities within the permits issued by the state's relevant institutions in mining areas and under the supervision and oversight of these institutions, EMIB Chairman Kaya concluded: "To meet our country's mining needs, to ensure that the foreign currency we need is earned for our country, we must practice sustainable mining production. To achieve this, we can reach our goal by being environment-friendly, placing human health at the center of production, and managing a sustainable production chain effectively." The third "Our Life is Mining" Workshop organized by the Aegean Minerals Exporters Association (EMIB) had been held by all NGOs in the sector with the theme "Sustainable Mining" in Izmir in November 2019. At this event, all NGOs in the mining sector reached consensus on adopting "Sustainable Mining" principles. The fourth "Our Life is Mining Workshop," planned to be organized this year by the Istanbul Minerals Exporters Association (İMİB), had been postponed due to the pandemic.