Türkiye to Build Its First Lithium Plant
A joint venture between Kontrolmatik Teknoloji and Asos Proses Makina has won a 3.295 billion TRY (approx. $83M USD) tender from Eti Maden to build Türkiye's first lithium carbonate production plant. The innovative facility will produce 600 tons of lithium annually by recovering it from the wastewater of an existing boron enrichment plant, a sustainable "waste-to-value" approach that will reduce Türkiye's import dependency for the critical battery material.
6/20/2025
In a major step for its national energy and technology ambitions, Türkiye is set to build its first domestic lithium carbonate production facility. The tender for the landmark project has been awarded to a joint venture led by two prominent Turkish companies.
The tender, organized by the state-owned Eti Maden İşletmeleri Genel Müdürlüğü for the "Kırka Lithium Carbonate Production Facility Construction Work," was officially won by a joint venture of Kontrolmatik Teknoloji Enerji ve Mühendislik A.Ş. (acting as the pilot partner) and Asos Proses Makina Sanayi ve Ticaret A.Ş.
The winning bid was valued at 3,295,000,000.00 TRY (approximately $83.04 Million USD).
A Strategic Leap for Türkiye's Industrial Future
The construction of this facility marks a cornerstone in Türkiye's strategy to enhance its industrial self-sufficiency and become a key player in the global energy transition. With a planned annual production capacity of 600 tons, the plant will produce lithium carbonate—a critical material for:
High-capacity batteries used in electric vehicles (EVs).
Grid-scale energy storage systems essential for renewable energy.
Advanced electronics and other strategic high-tech sectors.
By establishing a domestic source for lithium processing, the project is poised to significantly reduce Türkiye's reliance on foreign imports for this critical material, bolstering its economic and technological autonomy.
Innovative and Sustainable: Recovering Value from Waste
A key feature of the project is its highly innovative and sustainable approach. The facility will not mine lithium directly but will instead create value from an existing industrial process.
The plant is engineered to reprocess wastewater from Eti Maden's major boron enrichment operations. This advanced circular economy model will:
Extract valuable lithium carbonate from the waste stream.
Recover additional boron, improving resource efficiency.
Recycle the treated water back into the industrial process, minimizing environmental impact.
This "waste-to-value" approach showcases a forward-thinking model for sustainable resource management.
What's Next?
According to the official announcement, the winning bid will now undergo a final review and approval by the Eti Maden administration. Once approved, the process of finalizing the contract will begin. Further developments on the project's timeline are expected to be made public in the near future.
