East Azarbaijan has the largest share of mineral reserves among Iranian provinces, says Habib Aminzadeh, the head of Industries, Mining and Trade Organization of the northwestern province.
“East Azarbaijan’s mineral resources amount to 8.5 billion tons. It possesses 31 out of 57 types of minerals identified in the country. There are 13 copper mines, eight gold mines, seven iron ore mines and three nepheline mines in Sarab, Kaleybar and Azarshahr [counties of the province],” he added.
“The province has identified 735 mines, of which 400 are operating with 12,612 workers. East Azarbaijan comes second in terms of the highest rate of employment in the country,” he was quoted as saying by IRNA.
Notably, East Azarbaijan is home to 30 steel production units and has annual steel exports of over $100 million.
The province produces 5.5 million tons of steel per year and has a 24% share in Iran’s total steel output, IRNA reported.
More than 5,000 people are working in the province’s steel industries.
Sungun copper mine, located in Varzaqan county of East Azarbaijan about 75 km northwest of the provincial town of Ahar, is the most important geological and industrial feature of the province and one of the largest open-cast copper mines in Iran.
The reserves are estimated to hold 995 million tons of copper ore processed directly at the mine’s concentration plant.
Steel and cast iron were among the main products exported from East Azarbaijan during the first 10 months of the current Iranian year (March 20, 2020-Jan. 19).
A total of 1.8 million tons of commodities worth $893 million were exported from the province to 105 countries during the period, registering a 14% and 5% decline in weight and value respectively compared with the similar period of last year.
Other exports included mineral fuels and oils, plastic products, fruit and grains.
“Iraq, Turkey, Armenia and Azerbaijan Republic for the most part were the main destinations,” Leili Orangi, director general of Tabriz (the provincial capital) Customs Administration, was quoted as saying by IRNA.
The official added that imports into the province during the same period experienced a 20% and 13% fall in volume and value respectively YOY, without providing the exact figures.
“We imported commodities from 66 countries over the 10-month period with Turkey, Germany and China, accounting for 70% of the purchases made.”
Orangi said some 65% of the province’s imports during the period were intermediate goods that help boost domestic production.
The official noted that revenues from customs offices across the province stood at 4.87 trillion rials ($21 million) during the period under review.
Q-3 Mineral Trade
Iran’s export of mineral products during the first three quarters of the current fiscal year (March 20-Dec. 21) stood at 29.5 million tons worth $4.11 billion, latest data released by the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization show.
This marked a 44% and 39% decline in total volume and value year-on-year, respectively.
According to IMIDRO, steel topped the list of exports in terms of value with $2.17 billion and was followed by copper with $665.8 million and cement with $268.8 million.
In terms of tonnage, cement had the largest share with 13.22 million tons, followed by steel with 5.65 million tons.
According to the IMIDRO data, alumina powder exports saw the biggest jump in terms of value (234% YOY) to reach $1.3 million, followed by aluminum products with $155.8 million (up 82% YOY), ferro-molybdenum with $9.6 million (up 189% YOY) and molybdenum with $22.9 million (up 4% YOY).
The sharpest fall in export value was recorded for iron ore concentrate (down 90% YOY to reach $28.3 million), iron ore in the form of fines/lumps (down 82% YOY to reach $43.3 million) and antimony (down 71% YOY to reach $3.6 million).
In terms of tonnage, aluminum products posted the biggest growth (108% YOY) to reach 92,050 tons, followed by alumina powder (up 93% YOY to reach 650 tons), rare-earth minerals (up 88% YOY to reach 60 tons) and zinc products (up 49% YOY to reach 155,170 tons).
Iron ore concentrate had the sharpest decline in tonnage with 366,750 tons (down 90% YOY).
The IMIDRO report further shows imports of mineral products stood at 3.02 million tons worth $2.37 billion during the same period. The number shows an 18% increase in total volume and a 3% decrease compared with the same period of last year.
Steel also topped the list of mineral imports in terms of value with $991.78 million. It was followed by coal and coke with $208.12 million worth of imports. Aluminum products with $182.6 million came next, followed by titanium products with $110.95 million.
The value of precious metals’ imports saw the biggest jump (69% YOY) to reach $870,000. It was followed by ferro-molybdenum with $0.02 million (up 50% YOY) and steel products, up 41% to $991.78 million.
The sharpest fall in import value was recorded for lead (down 96% YOY to reach $560,000).
55b Tons of Reserves
Iran’s mineral reserves currently stand at 55 billion tons, about 37 billion tons of which are proven. New explorations are expected to increase the figure by 30% to 60 billion tons by the end of the current fiscal year (March 2021).
Some 410 million tons of minerals were extracted from Iranian mines in the last Iranian year (ended March 19, 2020).
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.
Overall, Iran is home to more than 7% of global mineral reserves.
Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, the country’s largest state-owned mining holding company, has invested 6 trillion rials ($26 million) in mining exploration across the country during President Hassan Rouhani's first term in office (August 2013-17).
"More than 900 highly potential mining zones have been identified so far … IMIDRO and its subsidiaries have carried out exploration operations over 700,000 square kilometers of the country’s area since 2012, 400,000 of which have been conducted over the past two years," Khodadad Gharibpour, the former head of IMIDRO, was quoted as saying by Fars News Agency.
A consortium of private companies accounted for 50,000 square meters of explorations, he added.
IMIDRO is set to carry out operations on 280 new mining zones, he said noting that the remaining zones will be outsourced to the private sector.
Exploration and mining in general cannot begin until mining firms are certified by the Industries Ministry.
Gharibpour said the permits issued so far cover the excavation of lead, zinc, gold, copper, iron ore, coal and salt, on which work has begun gradually.
Iran is said to have the largest area under mineral exploration in the Middle East.
