Iran exports 1.5 million tons of stone annually, of which 900,000 tons are natural stone blocks and 49,000 tons are processed stone, an advisor to Iran Stone Association said.
“There are over 2,000 licensed mines in Iran, but only 1,100 or half of them are active; the remaining 50% operate at half their capacity,” Siamak Hajseyyed-Javadi was also quoted as saying by Mehr News Agency.
According to the figures of the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade, the nominal capacity of Iranian mines stands at 30 million tons.
World statistics pertaining to 2019 show Iran’s mineral output reached 8.25 million tons compared with 9 million tons in 2018. Six years ago, the country’s mineral production was 12-13 million tons, indicating an annual average decline of 400,000 tons in recent years.
Noting that Iran’s mining sector is suffering from lack of accurate statistics, the official said, “Unofficial figures have it that there are between 6,000 and 6,500 stone-cutting and stone-processing factories in the country, of which 1,000 are inactive and the rest are operating at 40% of their capacity.”
“Local demand for stone hovers around 6-8 million tons. Iran is the fourth biggest producer of stone in the world after China, India and Turkey. Therefore, with an accurate five-year planning, the country can increase its production capacity to 20 million tons per year,” Hajseyyed-Javadi said.
“Procurement of heavy machinery used in the mining industry is one of the biggest challenges facing this sector. Costs regarding repair and purchase of spare parts are mounting as well; even imports of second-hand machinery have become impossible. Industrial machines now being used at stone mines are at least 10 years old. Only when the ministry and the Islamic Republic of Iran Customs Administration lend their support can the mining sector create added value.”
With more than 4 billion tons, Iran has the fourth largest stone reserve in the world.
Mahallat County in Markazi Province is the hub of decorative stone production in Iran. There are 70 active stone mines in Mahallat with 30 million tons of mineral reserves. Some 2 million tons are extracted annually.
Over 2% of the world’s construction and travertine stones are produced in Mahallat. A total of 280 processing units, with a capacity of 18 million square meters of stone, are active there.
According to Malek Rahmati, vice chairman of Iran Stone Association, Iran ranks third in terms of variety and production volume of ornamental stones after China and India.
“In many decorative stone processing units in the country, we witness a huge amount of waste that has caused the end price of processing to go up and lowered our power to compete in global markets,” Mohammad Reza Hajipour, the chairman of Industries, Mining and Trade Organization of Markazi Province, said.
A total of 2,587 rubble stone mines have been registered in Iran, constituting around 25% of the country’s total mines, data provided by the Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade show.
The data indicate that there are currently 1,881 active, 580 idle and 126 under-construction rubble mines across Iran, IRNA reported.
The active rubble stone mines have a 30% share of the country’s total operating mines (around 6,100).
The private sector owns 2,587 of the rubble mines, while the remaining 162 are managed by the state-affiliated bodies.
In the construction sector, any stone that cannot be used in decoration is called rubble. As an effective material for boosting strength and durability, rubble is especially used for filling-in walls and concrete production. It is also used in the chemicals, cosmetics and paper production sectors.
Iran extracted over 98.67 million tons of rubble during the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2020).
The country’s potential rubble reserves are estimated to be around 12.5 billion tons.
About 21,000 people are directly involved in the rubble stone sector.
Estimations show that 59 industry branches can use rubble as their raw material.
