Iran has the largest area under mineral exploration in the Middle East, the deputy minister of industries, mining and trade said.
“The Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation, the biggest state-owned holding in the mining sector of Iran, plans to cover 300,000 square kilometers of the country's explorable land for mineral explorations by the end of the current fiscal (March 19, 2020),” Khodadad Gharibpour also said in an address to a conference held in Tehran on Tuesday.
IMIDRO carried out exploration over 270,000 square kilometers during President Hassan Rouhani's first term in office (August 2013-17).
According to Gharibpour, who is also the chairman of IMIDRO, 65% of Iran’s total explorable mineral areas (1 million kilometers) belong to the organization, IRNA reported.
He said IMIDRO’s investment in Iran's mining sector will reach $3.9 billion by the end of the current [fiscal] year [ending March 2020], adding that 10,000 direct jobs as well as thousands of indirect jobs will be created in the process.
“IMIDRO implemented projects worth $2.1 billion in the last Iranian year [March 2018-19],” he said.
IMIDRO and the Iranian Space Agency signed a memorandum of understanding on the sidelines of the Tuesday conference to expand cooperation in improving productivity in the mining sector and mineral industries using advanced space technologies.
Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Reza Rahmani told IRNA on the sidelines of the event that the production of Iran’s mining and mineral industries exceeded $20 billion last year, while extraction of minerals reached nearly 500 million tons.
Speaking to ILNA, IMIDRO’s manager for exploration said the highest volume of explorations in Iran pertains to copper, iron ore and coal.
“The exploration budget is predicted to rise 10% in 2019 compared to 2018,” he said.
Gharibpour had earlier commented that half of Iran’s 600,000-square kilometers of exploratory area has been examined for mineral reserves.
“Most mining explorations in Iran have been carried out at shallow depths, while excavating deeper would lead to a twofold increase in the discovery of mineral reserves,” he said.
According to Deputy Industries Minister Jafar Sarqeini, Iran aims to produce 550 million tons of minerals in the current fiscal year (March 2019-20).
Iran is home to 68 types of minerals with more than 37 billion tons of proven reserves and 57 billion tons of potential reserves.
According to the United States Geological Survey, Iran holds the world's largest zinc, ninth largest copper, 10th largest iron ore, fifth largest gypsum and barite, and 10th largest uranium reserves.
Iran possesses more than 7% of global mineral reserves.
According to the Persian economic daily Donya-e-Eqtesad, Iran is home to nearly 10,000 mines, only 6,000 of which are active. The country’s mineral reserves stand at 60 billion tons, close to 40 billion tons of which are proven.
Iron Ore Shortage, New Tariffs on Unprocessed Minerals
Based on available data, the country’s iron ore reserves will only last until the next 20 years, considering the current trend in consumption, which highlights the need to expand explorations.
The Ministry of Industries, Mining and Trade has imposed 20-25% duties on exports of unprocessed minerals as of Sept. 23.
According to Sarqeini, the decision is aimed at supporting domestic production, preventing export of unprocessed minerals and generating more value-added.
The official noted that 25% duties will be levied on the export of iron ore concentrates and pellets.
Iron ore seems to be at the forefront of new restrictive measure, as experts warn Iran is facing a shortage of iron ore to feed its steel industries in the near future.
According to Minister of Industries, Mining and Trade Reza Rahmani, 10% of Iran's iron ore output are currently exported.
A total of 17 million tons of iron ore were exported from Iran in the last fiscal year (March 2018-19), figures released by the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization show.
Iron ore in the form of fines/lumps had the lion’s share from exports with 8.84 million tons, followed by iron ore concentrate with 5.52 million tons and iron ore pellet with 2.78 million tons.
IMIDRO data show exports of iron ore concentrate, iron ore fines/lumps and iron ore pellet earned $380.95 million, $258.75 million, and $201.92 million respectively, meaning a total of $840 million were exported from the country during the period under review.
According to an official with Esfahan Steel Company, Nematollah Mohseni, excessive exports of iron ores have caused many steelmakers, including ESCO, to operate below capacity.
Iran was the sixth largest supplier of iron ore to China—the world’s largest importer of iron ore—by shipping 22 million tons in 2017.
The former accounts for about 3% of global iron ore reserves estimated at 4.5 billion tons with over 200 ore deposits.
Miners and lawmakers have been locked in a heated debate over the issue of unprocessed mineral exports, especially iron ore for years.
Government officials believe Iran’s rising steelmaking capacity, which is expected to reach 55 million tons by the end of 2025, requires a steadily increasing feedstock of iron ore and that exporting the material is against the industry’s interests.
On the other hand, Iranian iron ore miners, many of whom belong to the private sector, believe that a looming specter of bankruptcy can only be averted through exports, arguing that exports are their last remaining lifeline amid the unbalanced domestic market.
According to Sajjad Ghoroqi, a member of Iron Ore Producers and Exporters Association of Iran, over 60% (93) of Iranian mines hold less than 1 million tons of iron ore and are mostly operated by the private sector. Furthermore, 26% (41) of the mines hold 1-10 million tons, 4% (7) possess 10-50 million tons and 5% (8) boast reserves of more than 50 million tons.
Larger mines are either completely state-owned or semi-privatized.
Ghoroqi says small- and medium-sized iron ore mines account for only 5% of Iran's total reserves, while constituting 24% of Iran’s total annual ore production.
