Gold reserve detected in Turkey worth around $1.2B

Around 20 tons of gold with a market value of $1.2 billion and 3.5 tons of silver reserves with a market value of $2.8 million have been detected by Koza Altın in eastern Turkey’s Ağrı province, Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank announced Thursday.

The minister was speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony of the Mollakara gold mining facility which he attended together with the Energy and Natural Resources Minister Fatih Dönmez.

Koza Altın is expected to invest a total of $160 million in the gold mining facility.

TMSF head Muhiddin Gülal, in a press meeting held back in March, said they aim to extract 15 tons of gold in the 2022-2023 period.

Turkey had produced 42 tons of gold in 2020, the highest level ever. Dönmez in January said the output made a $2.4 billion contribution to the economy.

The record supersedes the last set in 2019 when 38 tons of gold were produced, Daily Sabah reported.