Turkey is a Eurasian country straddling the southeastern Balkan region of Europe and the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia.

Turkey's government is a secular democracy that has become increasingly integrated with the West while maintaining relations with the East. The country is an associate member of the European Community and the government has made Turkey's acceptance into the European Union a top priority. It is a member of the United Nations and of NATO and has been a long-time, staunch, strategic ally of the United States. It is also a founding member of the OECD and the G20 industrial nations.

Turkey has a long mining history going back at least 9,000 years; copper, gold, iron, lead, mercury, silver, tin, and other metals have been mined since ancient times. Archaeologists believe bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, was first made in Turkey. The first iron was refined there. The fabled wealth of Croesus, the king of Lydia in 6th century, B.C., came from the placer mining of gold in western Turkey. The island of Cyprus, from which the word "cupros" or copper is derived, lies 32 km south of Turkey and was the source of copper for many Mediterranean cultures. The historic name of Turkey and the peninsula that forms the Asian part of Turkey is known as Anatolia, "Anadolu" in Turkish, which means several things including "the mother lode."

Today more than 50 different minerals are produced in Turkey including copper, gold, zinc, iron and chromite which is its most abundant metal product. It's a prolific producer of industrial minerals accounting for 2.5% of global production, and is one of the world's major producers of boron, barite, celestite, emery, feldspar, limestone, marble, magnesite, perlite and pumice. The country's iron and steel industries are the most integrated, focusing on an export market.

The continents of Africa, Asia and Europe all meet under Turkey. The African and Arabian plates join there. With two subduction zones and three crunching plates, Turkey is mineral-rich and the potential for new base and precious metals discoveries using modern exploration techniques is considerable, however, few of the mineralized areas of Turkey's mining districts have been adequately explored.

Strong commodity prices, favourable changes in the country's investment regime, and, new mining laws enacted in 2005, have resulted in an increase in mining and in mineral exploration activity in the country with a particular emphasis on copper, gold, nickel and zinc exploration. Regulations and procedures have been streamlined and laws governing the economics of mining joint ventures with foreigners have been improved. There are no limits on repatriation of profits in hard currency or gold, no import duty for new mining and processing equipment, nor any limits or tax on exported mineral products.

Infrastructure, communications, roads and electricity are well-developed throughout Turkey and capable of supporting major development in most regions.

Links:
- Turkey (CIA World Factbook)
- General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration
- General Directorate of Mining Affairs
- Turkish Mining Law