Söğüt Gold Mine, the first and strategic investment of Gübretaş Maden Yatırımları A.Ş., is located on the Söğüt-Eskişehir highway, within the borders of Söğüt district of Bilecik province, in the field with license number 82050. Business area; It is located 35 km southeast of Bilecik city center, 20 km northeast of Bozüyük district and only 6 km southeast of Söğüt district center.

 

History of Söğüt Gold Mine

Historical Development: From Ancient Times to the Present
Traces of Early Settlement and Bronze Age Mining

Söğüt and its surroundings emerged on the stage of history as one of the early settlement centers of Anatolia. With the Early Bronze Age, the agriculture-based village life of the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods was replaced by a more organized, urbanization-based settlement system. In this process, mining activities as well as pottery production gained significant momentum. Tin deposits discovered around İnhisar in the 1960s indicate that bronze production may have occurred in the region.

 

Mining in the Hittite, Phrygian and Roman Periods

B.C. Bilecik and Söğüt basin, which came under Hittite and then Phrygian rule in 2000, has been an important settlement and trade center throughout history due to its geological riches and being a transition region between Thrace and Anatolia. During the Roman period, the region was located within the borders of the province of Bithynia and Pontus and was in a strategic position for the extraction of gold, iron and other metallic mines during this period.

Numerous ancient hearths, splits, wells, waste piles, slotted stones and grinding areas identified in Korudanlık and its surroundings; It reveals that the region was actively used for mining during the Roman period. Especially the density of crushing-grinding stones and ore preparation areas shows that there is a serious metal processing activity here.

 

Mining Activities in the Modern Era

Republic Period Studies

Between 1936 and 1944, Kışladere mineralization was exploited for antimonite and the presence of wolframine in our country was detected for the first time in this mineralization.

Between 1965 and 1967, upon the application of the license holder, a 175-meter-long exploration gallery was opened in the Korudanlık area by the Mining Assistance Commission. The first observations obtained during this period necessitated a closer evaluation of the potential in the region. Afterwards, field surveys were carried out by MTA (Mineral Research and Exploration) and potential mineralization areas were documented with preliminary maps.

2000s
With the increasing interest of the private sector in the field of mining in the 2000s, systematic mineral exploration activities were initiated in Söğüt district. During this period, drilling activities were carried out by various private companies and gold mineralizations with high economic value were detected.

Gübretaş Mining Investments Inc. Period

In 2020, Gübretaş Maden Yatırımları A.Ş., a subsidiary of Turkish Agricultural Credit Cooperatives, took over the Söğüt Gold Mine field and made significant investments for industrial-scale gold production in the region.

• 2021- Field infrastructure and construction works have started.

• 2023- Production started.

• Korudanlık and Akbaştepe mineralizations were determined as the main production areas in the project.

Woodland mineralization is not only a geological potential; It is also an ore field with historical depth and great scientific and sectoral value. The field, which has been operated since ancient times, has become one of Türkiye's strategic gold production centers by combining it with modern mining understanding.

 

Mine Operation Method
 

At Söğüt Gold Mine, ore production will be carried out in two ways, open pit and underground mining.
 

Open pit mining is an surface excavation operation designed according to the shaping of the orebody without using underground mining methods.

It is essential that all operations be carried out as mechanized as possible: open pit mining equipment such as diesel-hydraulic drilling machines, excavators, loaders, earth-moving trucks, graders, dozers are used.

Underground ore production method in underground mines is a combination of “Cut & Fill” mining and “Sublevel Stoping” mining methods.

Since selective mining method is required at Söğüt Gold Mine, the majority of the operation is expected to be carried out by the cut & fill method.

In both methods, face development is required. A face-wall driving face development cycle takes place in the cycle of: drilling-blasting-ventilation-loading/transport ground support-service.

It is essential that all operations are carried out as mechanized as possible.

The produced ore in the Söğüt Gold Mine is stockpiled after being classified according to its oxide and sulphide content in the ore stockpile areas. The gold and silver in the classified run-of-mine ore are recovered in the process plant. Ore processing is carried out in oxide units or sulfide units, depending on the ore characteristics.

 

Mineral Resource / Reserve Figures

The Söğüt project is located within the Sakarya Zone, just north of the İzmir-Ankara Suture Zone. The project consists of two different mineralizations called Akbaştepe and Korudanlık.

 

Sogut Project Location Map

 

Akbaştepe mineralization is located in the south of the project area and Korudanlık is in the north. The mineralizations are in the east-west direction and both mineralizations dip to the north. While Akbaştepe mineralization has a high dip angle (65-700), Korudanlık mineralization has a low dip angle of 40-500.

Akbaştepe mineralization has a refractory character. Korudanlık mineralization, on the other hand, presents a completely oxide structure.

In the project, a total of 733 core drillings of 253,602m have been completed so far.
 

Akbaştepe Ore Model	Korudanlık Cevher Model

 

The Mineral Resource and Reserve Report was prepared in October 2020 by Competent Persons within the body of RPM Global Türkiye Danışmanlık Hizmetleri ve Ticaret Anonim Şirketi, in compliance with JORC and UMREK codes.

 

 

UMREK TABLE

JORC (2012) TABLE