Close to 30 million metric tons of minerals will be extracted from Mehdiabad zinc and lead mine in the central Yazd Province in one year, reported the public relations of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) last week.
Based on the report, the first shipment of Japanese mining machinery and equipment has arrived at the site and the contractor will start removing the overburden and extracting the minerals as of March 21, IRNA quoted Amin Safari, the manager at Mehdiabad zinc and lead complex as saying.
The contractor will build two processing units at the complex to annually produce 100,000 tons of zinc concentrate and 100,000 tons of zinc ingots with a $900-million investment.
The complex is currently extracting and selling barite, Safari said, adding that some 85 companies in the country produce zinc concentrate and ingots with a total production capacity of 185,000 tons per year, “which makes Mehdiabad the biggest zinc producer in the country within the next three years.” Iran’s annual consumption has been reported to stand between 80 and 100 thousand tons of zinc and 100 and 120 thousand tons of lead.
The country has 45 million tons of reserves for zinc and lead oxides, while the reserves for zinc and lead sulphur are estimated to be around 116 million tons.
