GÜBRETAŞ MADEN YATIRIMLARI A.Ş. COOPERATING WITH ZİRAAT BANK ON THE “SÖĞÜT GOLD MINE PROJECT”

A cooperation and loan agreement was signed between Gübretaş Maden Yatırımları A.Ş and Ziraat Bank to bring the gold resources in the Söğüt Gold Mine Project to the country's economy.

Signs the cooperation and loan agreement regarding the preparation phase of the Söğüt Gold Mine Project, General Manager of Tarım Kredi and GÜBRETAŞ Maden Yatırımları A.Ş. was laid at the Tarım Kredi building in a ceremony attended by Mr. Fahrettin Poyraz, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and Mr. Alpaslan Çakar, General Manager of Ziraat Bank.

In his speech at the ceremony, Poyraz said that they signed a protocol to further their cooperation with Ziraat Bank, specifically for Söğüt Gold Mine.

Poyraz said: “Our cooperation is not limited to the agricultural dimension, we also develop joint projects in different sectors whenever possible under the developing conditions of Turkey. Today, GÜBRETAŞ Maden Yatırımları A.Ş. was established as a subsidiary of GÜBRETAŞ , the largest subsidiary of Tarım Kredi. We gathered regarding the financing of Söğüt Gold Mine Project of . There was a limit allocation of 135 million dollars to be used this year. Hopefully, we will cooperate to provide the financing needs for the operation of Söğüt Gold Mine and investments in the following period, as in all our other activities, under the leadership of Ziraat Bank.”

“We plan to produce approximately 6-7 tons of gold annually”

Poyraz gave the information that they foresee an investment of 450 million dollars in the gold mine in question and said, “ We plan to produce approximately 6-7 tons of gold annually in the working areas in two separate ore areas, Akbaştepe and Korudanlık , hopefully after completing the processes quickly and starting production. "When we talk about current figures, we are talking about a production amount of approximately 15 percent of the total annual gold produced in Turkey." said.

Çakar also stated that Ziraat Bank wants to take part in all projects that will contribute to production, investment, employment and exports. Pointing out that gold imports increase significantly in Turkey from time to time and have a negative impact on the current account balance, Çakar said that this project will also make a positive contribution to the current account balance and employment.

Çakar said, “This project is a project for the extraction and processing of gold. We made our plans to take part in the entire project.” he said.