Türkiye, France Explore Critical Minerals Alliance

(MENAFN) Türkiye and France are moving toward deeper collaboration on critical minerals, with both nations prioritizing supply chain resilience across clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and high-tech industries.

Benjamin Gallezot, France's interministerial delegate for strategic minerals and metals supplies, said April's OECD Critical Minerals Forum in Istanbul served as a key platform for advancing that agenda.

"We need more critical minerals in the future to support industrial development around the world," Gallezot told media.

He emphasized that the raw materials and technical capacity already exist globally — but unlocking them demands coordinated international effort.

"The resources exist, the skills, the technical resource are this are here, but we have to develop this resource and to do that cooperation is very important," he added.

Gallezot singled out Türkiye as a standout partner, citing both its manufacturing strength and untapped natural resource base.

"Türkiye is a very important country considering its industrial capacity but also its natural resources," he said.

During his Istanbul visit, Gallezot held direct talks with Turkish officials to map out potential collaboration pathways.

"We intend to develop cooperation between France and Türkiye, but this has to be also taken into a multilateral area," he said.

Talks Focus on Technology Transfer and Investment
Proposed cooperation frameworks under discussion include technology transfers, technical partnerships, and project financing mechanisms. Several French institutions have already made inroads into Türkiye's minerals sector, Gallezot confirmed.

With France currently holding the G7 presidency, Gallezot said bridging dialogue between G7 members and partner nations on critical minerals policy ranked among his top priorities at the forum.

"I see very good prospects in this area," he said.

Although no formal joint projects have been announced, both governments are actively reviewing opportunities. "We are looking at all possibilities," he said, acknowledging Türkiye's aggressive domestic strategy to develop its mineral wealth.

Gallezot also pointed to France's deep-rooted expertise in rare earth processing — noting that rare earth separation technology was pioneered in France over eight decades ago.

Critical Minerals Rise as a Global Strategic Imperative
The strategic importance of critical minerals has surged as demand accelerates across renewable energy, battery production, electronics, and industrial manufacturing.

"These are sometimes in small quantity but very strategic," he said.

Gallezot warned against over-reliance on a handful of suppliers, calling supply diversification a foundational policy principle.

"You don't want to put all your eggs in one basket," Gallezot said. "Diversification is the key to supply policy, whether in energy or critical minerals."

France is also scaling up its own extraction and processing capabilities domestically. Among the flagship initiatives is the development of one of Europe's largest lithium deposits in central France — a project with the potential to supply enough lithium for approximately 700,000 electric vehicles per year.

Beyond mining, refining and recycling infrastructure will be equally critical to building durable supply chains, he noted.

"International cooperation is essential because you need to bring together resources, technology, expertise and financing," Gallezot said. "That requires the efforts of many countries."

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