Türkiye has been one of the oldest marble producers in the world with its 4,000 years of background in marble production starting on the Marmara Island. Türkiye has immense reserves of marble, travertine, onyx, conglomerate, breccia and magmatic rocks. Türkiye’s total marble reserves are estimated at about 5.2 billion m3 –13.9 billion tons. Türkiye has an exploitable reserve of 4 billion m3 for marble deposits; the same figure is 2.8 billion m3 for travertine and 1 billion m3 for granite. According to estimates, Türkiye has 40 percent of the world’s total marble reserves. Having a considerable and quite diverse mineral base, Türkiye has one of the world's largest natural stone reserves, which is considered excellent quality and exclusive due to great variety of colors and textures. Istanbul Mineral Exporters' Association (IMIB) is a professional non-profit association which deals with all export activities in minerals sector. Istanbul Mineral Exporters' Association was founded in 1976 and has over 6.000 members as of 2024. Among the principle areas of business of IMIB are natural stones, borates and concentrates, chromium ore, copper ore, magnesite, ferrochromium, zinc ore and feldspar products.