The deputy minister for industry, mine, and trade said the ministry supports world-class mines; although small mines are definitely contributing to the domestic economy, reported Eghtesadnews.
Ja’far Sarqini said out of 5,400 active mines in the country, some 20 can be considered as world-class mines, adding that the number of active mines is not important, but their scale matters. Sarqini emphasized that all efforts in the mining sector should be concentrated on raising the scale of mines.
The deputy minister noted that large-scale mines use less energy and are more environment-friendly and therefore the costs could significantly reduce.
Currently, many mines across Iran use subsidized diesel, and buy their machineries and equipment with government subsidies. Mining costs in Iran are generally much higher than the average standard costs throughout the region.
Some 2,200 mines in the country are inactive due to different reasons including subsidy and local disputes between the mines and environment offices.
The government’s Fifth Development Plan for the years 2011 to 2015 proposed that the production capacities of several mineral commodities should be increased by 2015. It also stated production capacity expansions include that of the cement sector, which was proposed to increase to 100 million tons per year; crude steel, to 42 million tons per annum, and copper cathode, to 910,000 tons per year.
