IMIDRO head: Mineral reserves value up $50b
The value of Iran’s mineral reserves has grown by $50 billion following the latest discoveries made during March 21, 2014-September 22, 2017, said the head of the Board of Directors of Iran Mines and Mineral Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).
In cooperation with the Geological Survey and Mineral Exploration of Iran, IMIDRO undertook a project in 2014 to explore an area of 250,000 square kilometers for mineral reserves, said Mehdi Karbasian in a meeting attended by Farrokh Safavi, a professor at the Faculty of Management of the University of Tehran, and a number of students, IMIDRO reported.
He said the implementation of the project led to the discovery of 42 tons of gold, 22 million tons of bauxite, 103 million tons of barite, 30,000 tons of antimony, 65,000 tons of rare earth elements, 345 million tons of coke, 200 million tons of coal and 500 million tons of iron ore reserves.
Karbasian added so far, preliminary exploration activities have been conducted in an area of 160,000 square kilometers within the framework of this project.
“Exploration activities of some areas have been handed over to leading foreign and domestic firms.”
He put the costs of exploration during the three year period ending mid-september 2017 at $75 million.
Speaking at the same meeting, Professor Safavi said that in the past two years, huge leaps have been taken in domestic mining sector.
He also lauded Karbasian’s performance as head of IMIDRO.