Extraction and production of the precious yellow metal gold by Turkey, a country sandwiched between Europe and Asia, has increased by 43 percent to 24.4 tonnes in 2011 compared from a year ago, the country's Anatolia News Agency reported.

However, the said increment still failed behind in meeting Turkey's full-year gold production targets.

The 2011 gold produced came from a total of six active gold mining firms in Turkey, which have been around since gold extraction started in the country in 2001, the Anatolia news agency reported. Since 2001, the country has witnessed a steady increase in the amount of gold extracted. Initially, it was only 1.4 tonnes in 2001, then zoomed to 11 tonnes in 2008, 14.5 tonnes in 2009 and 17 tonnes in 2010.

Using current global market prices, Turkey's 2011 gold produce of 24.425 tons has a value of nearly $1.365 billion.

Meanwhile, as Turkey also imports an average 151 tonnes of gold annually, it would be best for government to enact policies and programmes that would help develop the country's gold mining sector.

In the last 17 years, Turkey had imported a total of 2,573 tonnes of gold, Ümit Akdur, chairman of Gold Miners Association, said.

Turkey's imports of the precious yellow metal gold grew almost 90 per cent in the first ten months of 2011, with jewellery exports also soaring 27 per cent during the same period.

Turkey is the country which boasts of a significant gold mine potential in the world. However, "only 10 per cent of Turkey's 6,500 tonnes of gold mine potential has been brought out yet. The remaining 90 per cent is waiting to be discovered."

For that to materialize, Turkish government may need to spend between $10 billion to $12 billion in order to fully realize the potential of its gold depositories.

Akdur noted that gold appetite in Turkey is rising steadily. Turkey ranks as the third country with the highest amount of gold purchases per capita after India and Saudi Arabia.

In December, Turkey announced its total gold reserves in November 2011 added 1.328 million troy ounces, growing by 30 per cent to 5.758 million ounces, from 4.429 million ounces in October, data from the International Monetary Fund showed.

Total gold reserves in October likewise followed a rise of 697,000 ounces from the month before, the same IMF figures said.

With the updated figures, Turkey now holds the 22nd-largest official holdings of gold in the world, corresponding to around 7 per cent of its foreign reserves, according to the World Gold Council.