Licensing, State Policy, Supply Chain Security and the New Legal Architecture of Critical Mineral Investments
Critical minerals have moved from the technical margins of mining law to the centre of global economic, energy and national security policy.
Lithium, copper, nickel, graphite, cobalt and rare earth elements are indispensable to electric vehicles, battery storage, renewable energy infrastructure, electricity grids, semiconductors, advanced manufacturing, aerospace technologies and defence industries. As governments compete to secure reliable supplies of these materials, mining projects are increasingly affected not only by traditional mining and environmental regulation but also by industrial policy, strategic stockpiling, export restrictions, supply-chain controls and national-security considerations.
The International Energy Agency’s 2026 Global Critical Minerals Outlook describes critical minerals as having moved to the forefront of energy, economic and national-security agendas. It also notes that export controls and geographical concentration have evolved from theoretical risks into immediate supply-security concerns. In 2025 and early 2026, restrictions affecting rare earths, graphite, cobalt and other strategic materials demonstrated how government policy in one producing country can affect manufacturing industries across multiple jurisdictions.
Türkiye is becoming increasingly relevant within this landscape.
Its geographical position between Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and major international transport corridors, combined with its existing mining industry, industrial infrastructure and potential mineral resources, gives Türkiye a possible role not merely as a producer of raw materials but also as a processing, refining and manufacturing hub.
For international investors, however, this opportunity comes with an increasingly sophisticated legal framework.
A critical-mineral investment in Türkiye must now be assessed not simply as a mining project, but as a project situated at the intersection of mining law, environmental regulation, foreign investment law, international trade law, industrial policy, project finance and investment treaty protection.
1. Why Critical Minerals Have Become a Legal Issue
Mining law historically focused on a relatively predictable set of issues: who owns mineral rights, who may obtain a licence, how exploration and production may be conducted, what royalties are payable and what environmental obligations apply.
Critical minerals have fundamentally altered this picture.
Governments increasingly regard access to certain minerals as essential to:
- energy security;
- defence production;
- advanced manufacturing;
- battery and electric vehicle industries;
- digital infrastructure;
- renewable energy;
- economic competitiveness; and
- national security.
Consequently, the legal treatment of a mine may increasingly depend upon what mineral is being extracted and how strategically important that mineral is to the State.
This creates both advantages and risks for investors.
A critical-mineral project may receive political support, infrastructure assistance, accelerated permitting or investment incentives.
At the same time, it may become exposed to strategic stockpiling obligations, export policy changes, domestic-processing requirements, enhanced State supervision or government intervention justified by national-security considerations.
The legal classification of the mineral therefore becomes increasingly important.
2. Türkiye Has Introduced a Statutory Concept of “Critical” and “Strategic” Minerals
One of the most important developments for mining investors occurred in July 2025.
Law No. 7554 substantially amended Mining Law No. 3213 and introduced an express statutory regime for strategic and critical minerals.
Under the amended Article 8 of the Mining Law, minerals that constitute essential inputs for industrial production, carry a high supply risk and whose disruption or significant price increase could cause serious economic problems or security vulnerabilities may be classified as critical minerals.
Strategic minerals are defined by reference to their high importance for national security and economic welfare and the possibility that their supply could become restricted because of domestic or external factors.
The determination is to be made by the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources after obtaining views from the Ministry of National Defence, Ministry of Industry and Technology, Ministry of Trade and other relevant public institutions.
This is significant for foreign investors because Türkiye has moved beyond merely using “critical mineral” as a policy concept.
It is now a legal classification capable of producing specific regulatory consequences.
3. Türkiye’s Critical and Strategic Minerals Policy
Türkiye has also been developing a broader national critical-minerals strategy.
The Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources has published the Türkiye Critical and Strategic Minerals Report and identified 37 minerals as critical or strategic for Türkiye, reflecting factors such as supply security, advanced technologies, the green-energy transition and defence-industry requirements. The Ministry has stated that this work is intended to form the basis of a wider policy covering supply-chain security, production planning, inventories, processing and investment incentives.
In April 2026, the Ministry stated that Türkiye was finalising a comprehensive Critical Raw Materials Strategy.
Importantly, the government’s stated objective is not limited to extraction. The Ministry has expressly emphasised that possessing mineral resources is insufficient and that Türkiye aims to increase processing capacity and high-value-added domestic production.
This policy direction has direct implications for international investors.
Future investment models may increasingly favour projects that include not merely extraction but also:
processing,
refining,
intermediate products,
advanced materials,
battery components,
magnets,
recycling,
and downstream industrial integration.
An investor evaluating a Turkish critical-mineral project should therefore examine whether the commercial structure aligns with Türkiye’s developing industrial strategy rather than evaluating the mine solely on the basis of ore production.
4. Rare Earth Elements and the Beylikova Example
Rare earth elements provide perhaps the clearest illustration of Türkiye’s strategic direction.
Rare earths are essential in permanent magnets used in electric motors, wind turbines, electronics, defence systems and advanced industrial technologies.
Türkiye’s Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources states that exploration and technological work relating to rare earth elements has accelerated and that a pilot mineral-processing plant has been established at Beylikova, Eskişehir. The government is also working toward industrial-scale processing capacity.
The Ministry has separately stated that the existing pilot facility has an annual capacity of approximately 1,200 tonnes and that plans for an industrial facility envisage processing substantially larger quantities of ore and producing rare earth oxides.
The legal significance of Beylikova is broader than a single project.
It indicates that Türkiye increasingly views the critical-minerals sector through an integrated mine-to-material strategy.
For foreign investors, potential opportunities may therefore arise not only in mining licences but in:
mineral separation technology,
processing facilities,
metallurgy,
recycling,
specialised chemical production,
magnet manufacturing,
industrial equipment,
technology licensing,
project finance,
and international offtake arrangements.
5. Mining Licences Remain the Foundation of the Investment
Despite the growing strategic dimension, a critical-mineral investment remains fundamentally dependent on rights granted under Mining Law No. 3213.
The Mining and Petroleum Affairs General Directorate, or MAPEG, is the central regulatory authority responsible for mining licensing and related administrative processes.
As of June 2026, MAPEG reported more than 13,000 active mining licences, including exploration and operating licences.
An international investor considering an acquisition, joint venture or greenfield mining project should therefore conduct detailed title and licence due diligence.
It is not sufficient to establish that a Turkish company appears to “own a mine.”
Counsel should verify the precise licence category, mineral group, licensed coordinates, exploration or operating status, expiry dates, work obligations, production requirements, royalty liabilities, environmental permits, land access rights, rehabilitation obligations and any administrative sanctions.
Where an investment is structured through the acquisition of an existing Turkish mining company, the legal status of the underlying licence should generally be treated as one of the most important elements of transactional due diligence.
6. The 2025 Mining Reform Has Changed Licensing and Investment Obligations
Law No. 7554 introduced material amendments to Türkiye’s mining-licensing system.
MAPEG confirmed that the amendments changed procedures under Articles 7, 16 and 30 of the Mining Law, including applications, licensing, investment guarantees and the treatment of areas allocated through tender procedures.
The amended regime also strengthens the importance of actual investment performance.
For certain exploration licences, investment programmes and reporting obligations are subject to regulatory oversight. Failure to carry out the required investment programme may result in forfeiture of guarantees and, in serious cases, cancellation of the licence.
This is important for investors accustomed to jurisdictions where a mining licence may effectively be held for speculative purposes for long periods.
Türkiye’s system increasingly links mineral rights to actual exploration expenditure, reporting, investment and development activity.
Accordingly, an acquisition of a mining licence should involve analysis not merely of the licence document but of the licence holder’s historic compliance with its work programme.
7. Special Permitting Advantages May Apply to Critical Minerals
One of the most legally significant elements of the 2025 reform concerns conflicts between mining projects and other governmental permissions.
Under the amended Mining Law, where certain authorities refuse permission in relation to Group IV minerals or strategic or critical minerals, the issue may in specified circumstances be referred through the Ministry to a governmental board for a final decision based upon overriding public interest.
Where the board ultimately decides in favour of mining activity, the relevant administrative authority must proceed with the permission and the licensing process may continue.
This provision demonstrates how dramatically the legal position of strategic mining has changed.
Critical-mineral classification may potentially strengthen the public-interest justification for developing a project.
However, investors should not interpret this as eliminating environmental or land-use law.
The project may still require an Environmental Impact Assessment, forestry permissions, water-related approvals, cultural heritage assessments, zoning analysis and other permits depending upon its location.
The critical-mineral designation therefore creates a potentially favourable policy environment, not an exemption from Turkish administrative law.
8. Urgent Expropriation May Be Available for Strategic and Critical Mineral Projects
The new Article 8 contains another remarkable provision.
Mining activities concerning strategic or critical minerals may benefit from urgent expropriation procedures under Turkish expropriation legislation.
This can be highly relevant where access to private land is essential for the development of a mineral deposit.
In conventional mining projects, fragmented land ownership can create substantial delays and transaction costs.
Strategic classification may therefore facilitate project development where the statutory conditions for expropriation are satisfied.
Nevertheless, this mechanism also creates legal and financial issues that should be reflected in project planning.
Investors should determine:
who will initiate the expropriation,
who will ultimately bear the compensation cost,
whether surface rights are sufficient,
how infrastructure corridors will be obtained,
and whether challenges by landowners could affect the development timetable.
Land strategy should therefore form part of the investment analysis from the beginning.
9. Strategic Stockpiling Is Now a Real Regulatory Risk
The amended Mining Law also authorises the President, within statutory limits, to require licence holders to stockpile a specified proportion or quantity of strategic or critical mineral production.
The statutory mechanism limits such requirements to no more than 10% of the previous year’s production.
This provision illustrates an emerging feature of critical-mineral regulation worldwide: governments increasingly treat mineral supply as a component of national resilience.
For an investor, however, mandatory stockpiling may affect:
working capital,
warehouse capacity,
sales commitments,
offtake agreements,
project-finance covenants,
production planning,
and cash-flow assumptions.
A long-term offtake contract promising 100% of production to a foreign buyer may therefore be commercially attractive but legally risky if the governing regulatory regime permits strategic stockpiling.
Modern critical-mineral contracts should consequently allocate the consequences of government-mandated stock requirements expressly.
10. Raw Ore Export Is Becoming a Strategic Question
Historically, mining investors could often evaluate a project according to a straightforward model: extract ore, concentrate it if necessary, and export the product to an international purchaser.
Critical-mineral policies increasingly challenge this model.
Türkiye’s policy statements emphasise domestic processing and value-added production.
The Critical and Strategic Minerals Report has identified issues including supply-chain security, production planning, inventory policies and ore export standards as matters requiring comprehensive policy development.
Mining Law amendments also permit tender specifications, depending on the characteristics of the deposit and national requirements, to include obligations concerning the production of intermediate or final products.
International investors should therefore assess whether a project can realistically be based on simple export of unprocessed material over its entire operating life.
The commercially stronger model may increasingly involve local beneficiation, refining or processing.
This can increase capital expenditure, but it may also improve access to incentives, political support, strategic partners and international buyers seeking diversified processing capacity.
11. Export Restrictions Have Become a Global Project Risk
The concern is not limited to Türkiye.
Critical minerals are increasingly subject to export quotas, licensing systems, taxes and technology restrictions worldwide.
OECD analysis published in 2026 reported a sharp increase in export restrictions on critical raw materials and estimated that a significant portion of global trade in minerals including cobalt, manganese, graphite and rare earth elements is now affected by such measures.
The IEA has similarly warned that the concentration of critical-mineral processing capacity creates a major vulnerability for energy and industrial supply chains.
This means that legal due diligence on a Turkish project should include more than Turkish law.
Investors must consider whether:
processing technology is dependent on equipment from another jurisdiction,
export licences are required for critical processing technology,
downstream buyers are subject to sanctions,
the project’s reagents or machinery depend on concentrated foreign suppliers,
or the relevant mineral could become subject to future trade restrictions.
A mine can possess excellent geology and still fail commercially because its processing or export chain becomes legally restricted.
12. The EU Critical Raw Materials Act Changes the Commercial Environment
Türkiye’s proximity to the European Union makes the EU Critical Raw Materials Act (“CRMA”) particularly relevant.
Regulation (EU) 2024/1252 seeks to establish a secure, resilient and sustainable supply of critical raw materials for the European Union.
The EU has established 2030 benchmarks under which it seeks to develop capacity equivalent to at least 10% of annual consumption through EU extraction, 40% through processing and 25% through recycling. It also seeks to ensure that no more than 65% of annual EU consumption of each strategic raw material at any relevant stage of processing is dependent upon a single third country.
These targets create significant opportunities for non-EU projects capable of diversifying European supply.
The CRMA expressly contemplates strategic cooperation with third countries.
Indeed, in June 2025 the European Commission formally recognised a number of critical raw material projects located outside the EU as Strategic Projects under the Regulation.
For Turkish mining projects, this creates an important strategic possibility.
A project should not necessarily ask only:
“Can the mineral be exported to Europe?”
The more sophisticated question is:
“Can this Turkish project become part of Europe’s legally recognised strategic raw-material supply chain?”
That question may influence project design, financing, environmental standards, traceability systems and the choice of European offtake partners.
13. Offtake Agreements Are Becoming as Important as Mining Licences
Financing a critical-mineral project increasingly depends upon securing long-term purchasers.
Offtake agreements may provide lenders with confidence regarding future revenues and may allow manufacturers to secure supply before a mine enters production.
However, these agreements require careful legal drafting.
The contract should address mineral specifications, pricing mechanisms, price floors or collars where appropriate, minimum quantities, take-or-pay obligations, quality testing, logistics, force majeure, regulatory changes and termination rights.
Critical-mineral contracts should additionally address government intervention risk.
For example, the agreement should determine what happens if:
an export licence is required,
the State imposes a stockpiling obligation,
export duties are introduced,
domestic processing becomes mandatory,
sanctions prevent delivery,
transport corridors are disrupted,
or the government temporarily restricts exports for national-security reasons.
These are no longer remote theoretical risks.
They are becoming ordinary components of critical-mineral contracting.
14. Price Volatility Requires Special Contractual Protection
Critical minerals can be exceptionally volatile.
The IEA has highlighted significant volatility across many strategic minerals as well as concentration risks affecting mining and refining capacity.
This creates difficulty for both miners and downstream manufacturers.
A fixed-price agreement may protect the buyer but destroy the mine’s economics if operating costs rise sharply.
A purely market-indexed price may expose manufacturers to unacceptable supply-chain risk.
Project developers are therefore increasingly considering hybrid pricing structures involving:
market benchmarks,
floor prices,
ceilings,
periodic renegotiation,
cost adjustments,
or formula-based pricing.
The pricing mechanism should also specify what happens where no transparent international benchmark exists for a particular rare earth or speciality mineral.
For some critical minerals, contract design can be as important to bankability as the geological resource itself.
15. Traceability Is Becoming a Legal and Commercial Requirement
International buyers increasingly want to know not merely what mineral they are purchasing but where it came from and under what conditions it was produced.
The OECD and IEA have emphasised traceability as an increasingly important component of critical-mineral supply-chain security.
Traceability systems may record the origin, custody, transformation and ownership of minerals throughout the supply chain and may also integrate environmental, social and governance information.
This creates an important issue for Turkish producers seeking to supply European, North American or multinational manufacturers.
A miner that can demonstrate reliable chain-of-custody information may obtain a commercial advantage over competitors that cannot establish the origin and ESG characteristics of their material.
Contractual documentation should therefore increasingly address:
origin information,
chain-of-custody records,
audit rights,
certification,
data retention,
supplier warranties,
and consequences of inaccurate sourcing information.
16. ESG Compliance Is Part of Supply Security
Environmental, social and governance considerations should no longer be viewed merely as corporate reputation issues.
The OECD emphasises that responsible mineral supply-chain due diligence applies across the mineral value chain and addresses risks including human-rights abuses, conflict financing, corruption and other financial crimes.
Similarly, the IEA has warned that environmental and social failures can themselves disrupt mineral supplies and delay the development of new capacity.
For a Turkish critical-mineral project, key ESG issues may include:
environmental impact assessment,
water consumption,
tailings management,
biodiversity,
forestry impacts,
worker health and safety,
local communities,
land acquisition,
rehabilitation,
anti-bribery controls,
and transparent supply chains.
Failure in one of these areas can produce more than regulatory penalties.
It may result in lender withdrawal, buyer termination, loss of insurance coverage or inability to qualify for strategic international supply-chain programmes.
17. Rehabilitation Has Become an Increasingly Important Financial Obligation in Türkiye
The 2025 Turkish mining reforms also strengthened rehabilitation requirements.
MAPEG announced that operating licence holders became subject to a specific annual rehabilitation payment, with the new system taking effect in 2026. Failure to pay the required licence and rehabilitation amounts within the statutory period can result in cancellation of the mining licence.
This is particularly important in transaction due diligence.
An international investor acquiring a Turkish mining company should verify whether all rehabilitation payments and licence fees have been properly accrued and paid.
A technically valuable mineral deposit does not constitute a bankable investment if the licence is vulnerable to cancellation because of regulatory non-compliance.
18. Foreign Investors Remain Protected Under Turkish Investment Law
Foreign investors in Türkiye are generally governed by Foreign Direct Investment Law No. 4875.
The legislation is intended to protect foreign investors and operates on a notification-oriented rather than a general prior-approval model for foreign direct investment. Türkiye’s official investment materials also emphasise equal treatment as a central feature of the investment environment.
However, the existence of general foreign-investment protection does not mean that mining activity is deregulated.
A foreign-owned Turkish company remains subject to the same sector-specific requirements concerning mining licences, environmental permissions, operational obligations and administrative supervision.
The more significant question for major international investors is whether their corporate structure also benefits from an applicable bilateral investment treaty or other international investment agreement.
This can become crucial if government conduct later results in licence cancellation, discriminatory treatment, expropriation or another serious investment dispute.
19. Investment Treaty Protection Should Be Considered Before the Investment
Critical-mineral projects often involve hundreds of millions of dollars of capital expenditure and operating periods extending over decades.
Corporate structuring should therefore be examined before the investment is made.
Depending upon the investor’s nationality and the applicable treaty, investment protections may potentially include:
fair and equitable treatment,
protection against unlawful expropriation,
national treatment,
most-favoured-nation treatment,
protection against arbitrary measures,
and access to investor-State arbitration.
These protections do not prevent Türkiye from regulating strategic minerals.
States retain broad regulatory powers concerning mining, national security, environmental protection and natural resources.
Nevertheless, governmental action affecting a foreign investment may under certain circumstances create an international-law dispute in addition to a domestic administrative-law dispute.
The investor’s treaty position should therefore be documented before substantial capital is committed.
20. Change-in-Law Risk Is Especially Important for Critical Minerals
Critical-mineral regulation is developing rapidly.
An investment feasibility study prepared today may assume unrestricted exports, no mandatory stockpile and a particular licensing framework.
Five years later, government priorities may be different.
This makes change-in-law provisions particularly important in:
joint ventures,
offtake agreements,
project financing,
processing agreements,
EPC contracts,
government agreements,
and long-term supply arrangements.
Contracts should determine who bears the economic consequences of new taxes, export controls, domestic-processing obligations, environmental requirements or mandatory stockpiling.
Where a project depends on specific governmental support, investors should also assess whether contractual stabilisation or economic-equilibrium mechanisms are appropriate and legally available.
21. Critical Minerals Are Creating a New Type of Mining Investment
Traditional mining investment focused principally on three questions:
Is there a commercially viable deposit?
Can a licence be obtained?
Can the commodity be sold profitably?
Critical-mineral investment requires additional questions.
Which government regards the material as strategic?
Where will it be processed?
Which jurisdiction controls the processing technology?
Can the mineral be exported?
Will part of production need to be stockpiled?
Does the project qualify for industrial incentives?
Can it supply the European Union?
Can its origin be traced?
Will downstream manufacturers accept its ESG profile?
Does an investment treaty protect the investor?
And what happens if national-security policy changes during the thirty-year life of the mine?
The legal analysis has therefore become substantially broader.
Conclusion
Critical minerals are transforming mining law.
Lithium, rare earth elements, copper, nickel, graphite and other strategic materials are no longer treated solely as commodities. They increasingly function as components of national industrial policy, energy security and geopolitical strategy.
Türkiye has responded to this global transformation with significant legal changes.
Following the 2025 amendments to Mining Law No. 3213, Turkish legislation now expressly defines critical and strategic minerals, permits special public-interest mechanisms in certain permitting disputes, enables urgent expropriation in relation to strategic or critical mining activities and allows strategic stockpiling obligations within statutory limits.
At the policy level, Türkiye has identified 37 critical and strategic minerals and is developing a broader strategy focused not only on extraction but also on processing, supply-chain security and high-value-added production.
For international investors, this creates significant opportunity.
Türkiye may potentially serve as a bridge between mineral resources and the major industrial markets of Europe and surrounding regions. Its rare-earth programme and policy emphasis on domestic processing illustrate the possibility of building integrated mining and processing investments rather than merely exporting ore.
But strategic status also increases regulatory complexity.
Licensing, work obligations, rehabilitation payments, environmental permits, stockpiling, domestic processing, export policy, traceability and supply-chain due diligence can all affect project economics.
At the international level, the EU Critical Raw Materials Act, rapidly expanding export controls and increasing demand for diversified mineral supplies are creating a new regulatory environment in which a mine’s value depends partly on its ability to fit into a secure and legally compliant international supply chain.
For this reason, legal due diligence for a critical-mineral investment in Türkiye should not end with verification of the mining licence.
It should extend across the entire value chain:
from mineral rights, land access and environmental permitting to processing, financing, offtake arrangements, exportability, traceability, international investment protection and the regulatory requirements of the ultimate destination market.
In the emerging critical-minerals economy, the most valuable projects may not simply be those with the largest reserves.
They may be those capable of combining secure mineral rights, regulatory compliance, processing capacity, responsible production and reliable access to strategic international markets.
This article is prepared for general informational purposes concerning Turkish mining law, international investment law and critical-mineral supply chains. It does not constitute legal advice. The regulatory classification of minerals, licence requirements, investment incentives, trade measures and international treaty protections should be assessed separately for each project and may change as Türkiye and other jurisdictions continue to develop their critical raw-material policies.
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