Over 24 Km of Underground Explorations Last Year

Over 24,640 meters of underground mining exploration were undertaken in the last fiscal year (ended March 20, 2017) by Iran Minerals Production and Supply Company, IMPASCO’s head of exploration operations said.

Hesam Moqaddam-Ali added that exploration for iron ore deposits accounted for 14,321 meters of the total underground operations, followed by 5,300 meters for coal and 5,021 meters for polymetals, Shata reported.

IMPASCO is a subsidiary of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization and the holding’s production and processing arm in metallurgic coke, iron ore, gold, ferrochrome, phosphate, limestone, potash, titanium and lead and zinc, according to data on the company’s website.

Iran is home to 68 types of minerals with over 37 billion tons of proven and 57 billion tons of potential reserves, including large deposits of coal, iron ore, copper, lead, zinc, chromium, uranium and gold. The numbers, although substantial, could prove inadequate for the realization of the industry’s capacity expansion targets. The 20-Year Vision Plan (2005-25) stipulates the annual production of 55 million tons of steel, 800,000 tons of copper, 1.5 million tons of aluminum, 300,000 tons of zinc and 5 tons of gold by the end of 2025.