Sabri Karahan is the CEO and General Manager of DAMA Engineering, a Mining and Processing Engineer (MSc in Mining, Milling and Hydrometallurgy) with over 50 years of experience spanning mineral processing operations, mine development, engineering, and corporate management.He graduated from the Mining Faculty of Istanbul Technical University and completed a postgraduate certificate in copper hydrometallurgy at the University of Birmingham, England.Throughout his career he has held senior leadership positions across the international mining industry, including General Manager of Cominco Madencilik (subsidiary of Cominco Ltd, Canada) and Normandy Madencilik (Normandy/Newmont), Chairman of the Board of Çayeli Copper Mine, and Head of ETIBANK Mining Operations, where he oversaw 23 mines.Since 2005, he has led DAMA Engineering, building it into an internationally recognised consultancy that delivers exploration management, resource estimation, due diligence, mine planning, economic evaluation, and EPCM services. Under his direction, the firm has completed numerous PFS, FS and NI 43-101 bankable feasibility studies as well as turnkey plant projects — including the İvrindi and Lapseki gold projects — across Turkey, Azerbaijan, Iran and the wider region.
From Exploration to Processing Plants: Four Decades of Engineering Advancement in Turkish Mining
Turkey's mining sector has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past four decades. This presentation examines that journey from an engineering perspective, tracing the technological and methodological advances that have shaped the industry from exploration through to processing.
It will cover how mining engineering has progressed across key disciplines, how the sector has aligned with international standards, and how Turkey's capacity to develop its own mineral resources has grown over time. This historical overview will be complemented by a forward-looking perspective on the opportunities ahead for the sector.
