The national Iranian Copper Industries Company (NICICO) is targeting to produce 400,000 metric tons of copper by 2019, Eghtesadnews reported. According to Ahmad Moradalizadeh, the NICICO general manager, the project requires more than $3.5 billion in investment. He says processing copper to make copper products with more value added requires balanced development in the private sector’s downstream sectors. The NICICO is the country’s major body responsible for extraction and utilization of copper mines, production of copper concentrates and manufacturing copper products. Iran is the 14th global producer of copper by an output of around 260,000 tons per year. Major copper companies produced more than 728,600 tons of copper concentrate during the past 11 months of the past Iranian calendar year (ended March 20), IRNA cited a report by the Iranian Mines and mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) last month.
