Turkey will auction mining licenses for 115 sites following the announcement of a new tender by the Directorate General of Mining and Petroleum Affairs (MAPEG) in the Official Gazette.
According to the tender notice, information on each site, including its location, mining group, size, coordinates, tender date and tender specifications, will remain published on MAPEG’s website for at least 15 days after the notice was published in the Official Gazette. The licenses will be awarded through a combination of sealed bids and open bidding.
The latest tender follows a larger MAPEG auction in February, when the agency opened 485 mining sites for licensing, including areas classified under Group II-B minerals such as marble and travertine and Group IV minerals covering metallic resources.
MAPEG said 13,378 mining licenses were in force nationwide as of July, including 9,484 licenses at the operating stage, of which 7,668 had operating permits, while 4,375 mines were recorded as active in 2025.
The expansion of mining projects has repeatedly sparked opposition from environmental organizations and local residents, particularly over projects in the Akbelen Forest, the Kazdağları region and the Cerattepe area in Artvin. Scrutiny of the sector also intensified after a landslide at the heap leach pad at the Çöpler gold mine in the eastern province of Erzincan in February 2024, which killed nine workers.
MAPEG, an agency under Turkey’s Energy and Natural Resources Ministry, oversees the licensing of mining exploration and operating activities. The latest auction follows amendments to Turkey’s Mining Law adopted last year that environmental groups said would accelerate mining projects by streamlining licensing procedures.
