Turkey imports Iran’s unprocessed decorative stones and reexports them under its own brands, said the head of Mining Engineering Organization. According to the official, Iran possesses significant reserves of decorative stones in various types and colors, but lack of investments and processing unit drives producers toward exports of unprocessed products to other countries such as Turkey. “Despite 400 million tons of annual mineral extraction by the country’s 7,000 active mines, the mining sector has grown minimally,” Mehr News Agency quoted Hormoz Nassernia as saying. He pointed to the Fourth Conference on Investment Opportunities in the Mining and Mineral Industries, which is scheduled to be held in Tehran on October 2 as a great opportunity to attract foreign investments. “Iran’s copper, titanium, lead, zinc and nickel are all attractive areas for investment,” he said. Nassernia called on the government to develop the infrastructure and technologies required for the presence of foreign firms in the industry.
