Bursa sitting on marble reserve worth $105 billion

BURSA - Doğan News Agency

Turkey’s marble producers have discovered 900 million tons of reserves in the northwestern province of Bursa that could be worth up to $105 billion, according to sector representatives.

The marble, which was revealed thanks to a 10-month study by five academics, has enough reserves to last eight centuries, said Erol Efendioğlu, head of the Marble Producers and Industrialists Association (MASDİAD).

MASDİAD honorary board member Mustafa Topaloğlu, who is also a law professor at Ankara’s Beykent University, had requested that a study be conducted in Bursa’s Orhaneli town. This was the first reserve study on Turkish marble, Efendioğlu said at a press meeting in the province.

“Marble reserves cannot be extracted easily, unlike oil or gold. The reserve here can be processed for around 800 years,” he said.

Chinese businesses have expressed an interest in Bursa marble, he said, noting that they particularly interested in beige.The 25 marble miners in the region possess licenses for the business and no newcomers are expected, he said.

There are around 2,200 marble mines and 1,600 production facilities across Turkey, he said. Topaloğlu said he expected marble exports to reach $2 billion this year, adding that, when including the domestic market, the sector created $5 billion in value added. Turkey is currently the third biggest producer of marble in the world, following China and India, he said.