1935 – 1938 · Mining
Mining & Earth Sciences
Türkiye's underground resources had not been systematically surveyed before the Republic. Two laws passed in the same month of 1935 changed this field fundamentally.
The Structure Built
- MTA, the Mineral Research and Exploration Institute (June 1935). Established by Law No. 2804, the institute was tasked with geological surveying, locating mineral deposits and training Turkish mining engineers and technicians.
- Etibank (June 1935). Founded by Law No. 2805, the bank was charged with operating and financing, by modern methods, the deposits that MTA found.
- Divriği Iron Deposit. Brought into operation in 1938, the deposit became the main raw-material source of the Karabük Iron & Steel works.
- Zonguldak-Ereğli Coalfield. The state's share in the basin grew in the Etibank period; the whole basin was fully nationalised in 1940, after Atatürk's death, by Law No. 3867.
- Güleman Chromite Mine (Elazığ). The mine was brought into production in 1936 by Şark Kromları T.A.Ş. and transferred to Etibank in 1939.
- Chromium mining. National output in 1938 is reported as 280,000 tons of chromite, most of it exported and one of the era's leading foreign-exchange earners. Figures vary by source; some give about 214,000 tons for 1938.
- Ergani Copper Mine (Diyarbakır). A copper deposit with a thousand-year history, it was taken back into systematic state operation under Etibank in the 1930s, and its production capacity grew considerably towards the 1940s.
- Kuvarsan Copper Mine Enterprise. It was one of the facilities through which Türkiye's copper reserves were brought into state operation under Etibank's policy.
1935
MTA & Etibank founded
1,319
Sites surveyed 1935–39
~280K
Tons of chromium, 1938 (varies by source)
The tradition of systematic exploration that MTA began continues today under the same name, as the Mineral Research and Exploration General Directorate.
Source: MTA Bulletin, "History of MTA's Mineral Exploration (1935–2002)"; Journal of Atatürk Research Center, "Turkish Mining in the Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Era"; Dokuz Eylül University Journal of Social Sciences, "The Ereğli Coal Basin in the Republican Era (1920–1940)" (academic paper); Eti Maden official institutional history (etimaden.gov.tr), on the Güleman chromite mine coming into production. Note: some sources give a national 1938 chromite total of about 214,000 tons rather than 280,000, so no single growth ratio is offered here.