No way to the cyanide threat: “Hekimhan, İliç should not be”

Ilayda QUESTION

The public participation meeting held for the planned mine capacity increase, ore enrichment facility and mobile crusher project planned to be carried out by Saya Mining Inc. in the Akmağara area of ​​the Hekimhan district of Malatya was marked by the protests of the citizens. A large number of citizens, muhtars, ecological organizations and local administrators attended the meeting.

Within the scope of the project, which the company plans to implement with an investment budget of 1 billion 140 million TL, the current 72-hectare environmental impact assessment (EIA) area is intended to be increased to 730 hectares. Within the scope of the project, it is aimed to increase the annual ore production from 50 thousand tons to 1 million 836 thousand 736 tons of ore capacity per year.

According to the information in the EIA file, Saya Mining had previously decided that EIA was not required for the sole purpose of mining, but had not started any production activities in the field.

The company now plans to expand this decision and move to a comprehensive production and processing process. The distance from the mine site to the surrounding residences varies between 100 and 1,250 meters. There are also agricultural lands, farms and recreational facilities very close to the area.

During the meeting, citizens drew attention to the ecological, agricultural and social impacts of the mine. The public's speeches were recorded in the project minutes. It was emphasized that the company's planned production method seriously threatened clean water resources, agricultural areas and livestock in the region.

Citizens protested the public participation meeting held for the capacity increase of the gold mine facility where Saya Mining will use cyanide in Malatya Hekimhan:

“Hekimhan, don’t let İliç be” https://t.co/KzdpcUuwkl pic.twitter.com/PEHqduWhke

— BirGun Newspaper (@BirGun_Gazetesi) May 30, 2025

Tahsin Temelli, one of the citizens who attended the meeting, said, "The lives of the citizens will be negatively affected. It will destroy agriculture and animal husbandry."

LIFE, NOT PROFIT

Drawing attention to the mining resistance in Kazdağları and Cerattepe, Temelli said, “We know from the struggles given here that the mines, especially the gold mine separated with cyanide, are very destructive to nature and almost destroy the life of living beings. This is not only a disease; it also means unhealthy agricultural products, wheat, lentils, chickpeas, apricots, walnuts, and peaches.”

"WE DON'T WANT HEKIMHAN TO BECOME ILIC"

Temelli also emphasized that they saw the damage that the gold mine caused to nature, humans and other living things in İliç and said:

"We do not want Hekimhan to become İliç. We want to live naturally and healthily in our own natural environment, with the sounds of birds and various animals. This is why we are against the EIA. For us, the surface of the earth is much more valuable than the ground. Clean water, clean air, workable fertile soil are a thousand times more valuable than the profits that companies will earn."