Sari Guni gold mine is Iran’s biggest producer of the precious metal with proven reserves of 41 million tons of 24.1-carat gold and an annual output of 5 tons, according to a local official in the western Kurdestan Province where the mine is located.
The mine was inaugurated by former president, Hassan Rouhani, in August 2020 via videoconference. It came on stream with an investment of 3 trillion rials ($7.5 million at the current exchange rate), and is said to have put 350 people to work.
Speaking at the inaugural event, Rouhani said Iran’s gold ingot output registered a 14-fold jump in the past seven years.
Former deputy industries minister, Darioush Esmaeili, who was also present at the inauguration, noted that Iran is ahead of schedule in gold production.
“Based on the Sixth Five-Year Development Plan [2016-2022], the domestic gold ingot production was expected to reach 10 tons per year. However, since 2012, the rate has risen from 850 kg to 12 tons annually,” he said.
“The world’s total gold mine reserves amount to 50,000 tons. Based on the explorations and estimations, Iran’s share can be increased to 400 tons.”
A total of 72 tons of gold reserves were discovered in Iran over the past six years to increase the country’s total reserves of the precious metal to 201 tons, the news portal of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization reported in June 2021.
More gold reserves, estimated at 100 tons, are expected to be found by March 2042 under IMIDRO’s development plans.
Gold discovery projects are underway at 107 gold fields stretching more than 660,000 kilometers in 30 provinces.
Zarshouran, located 35 kilometers from Takab in the northwestern province of West Azarbaijan, is the richest gold deposit of Iran and the Middle East. It holds 108 tons of proven reserves, in addition to 50 tons of silver.
Around 700 people are working in the mine.
“Optimizing the input in gold bar production process, upgrading and boosting the capacity of the filtration process and establishing quality control units for each production stage are among recent measures taken to boost the mine’s output,” caretaker of Zarshouran Gold Mine and Mining Industries Development Company, Mohsen Naderi, said.
Kouhdom Goldmine, located 110 kilometers northeast of the city of Ardestan in Isfahan Province, came on stream in 2020, according to the Iran Minerals Production and Supply Company.
In a statement, the company said a total of £7.65 million was invested into the development project of the reserve, which is expected to produce 100 kg of gold and 1,000 tons of copper oxide annually. The new mine is expected to process 200 kilograms per year in the first phase and an adjacent processing and extraction factory is also set to come on stream in the near future, Mining Global reported.
Kouhdom reportedly contains approximately 1.7 million tons of proven reserves of gold ore, the company stated.
The project is part of the development plans of the Iran Minerals Production and Supply Company, which is a subsidiary of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, which was initiated in 2015.
