Mines and mineral industries account for 30 percent of the stock exchange market in Iran, said an official from the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).
“The significance of the mines and mineral industries sector can be best realized taking into account that creating a single job in the mining sector leads to the creation of 17 new jobs in the downstream industries,” the IMIDRO deputy head, Amir Khoramishad, was quoted by IRNA as saying.
According to Iran’s 20-Year Vision Plan, by 2025, the mining and mineral industry sector’s contribution to gross domestic production (GDP) should increase to 10 percent from the current five.
“IMIDRO is working on 29 development plans, worth $9 billion, which are expected to generate some 20,000 new direct jobs and 100,000 indirect jobs within the next three years,” Khoramishad added, calling on Iranian and foreign investors to participate in the projects.
He said Iran has 60 billion metric tons of proven and potential mineral reserves, with less than 15 percent of the country’s area having been explored so far, adding that “Iran should be producing 600 million metric tons of minerals annually, while the current production is around 400 million metric tons.”
In order to bridge the gap, an agreement was recently signed by the ministry of industry, mine, and trade, IMIDRO, and the Geological Survey to systematically explore 200,000 square kilometers of the country within the next three years.
According to official estimates, the exploration projects are expected to increase the mining industry’s exports to $23 billion from the current $7.5 billion in the next four years.
The 5,400 active mines in Iran currently extract over 420 million metric tons of 68 different types of minerals each year.
