In a meeting with the head of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization, two delegations representing Japanese companies signaled their readiness to cooperate in mining projects through providing finance, technology and execution of joint projects.
Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, which promotes the exploration and development of primarily overseas resources, has laid the groundwork of cooperation with the Iranian side, said its general manager, adding that one of his company’s missions is to finance metal and energy projects and to introduce technology to new places.
“Our studies have shown that potential areas of cooperation with Iran are not limited to oil and gas sectors. Iran enjoys rich resources of iron ore and we possess the technology to exploit iron ore from the depth of 1,500 meters,” Satoshi Asawa noted.
JOGMEC is all set to implement mining projects in various sectors of iron ore, copper, coal, titanium, potassium from production to trade, IMIDRO's news portal quoted him as saying.
Asawa said Japanese firms have drawn up various plans to economize projects and carried them out successfully in Latin America and Africa.
To initiate cooperation with Japan, Iran has various projects and models as well, said the head of IMIDRO.
“These projects can vary from mining exploration to processing and manufacturing of value-added products. Expansion of explorations is one of the priorities in the mining sector,” Mehdi Karbasian added.
Also in a separate meeting, general manager of the Iron Unit Division of Japan’s Kobe Steel Group, referred to his company’s presence in several Iranian projects of pellet and steel production and expressed willingness to cooperate with Iran’s well-known companies in steel and iron ore sectors.
Hiroshi Ishikawa also voiced support for Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers and reiterated that IMIDRO’s backing would push ahead transfer of technology from Japan to Iran.
“Execution of production projects of iron ore pellet and sponge iron tops our agenda. Iran International Engineering Company (IRITEC) and Mines and Metal Technological Engineering Company have already secured Kobe’s license on direct reduction for producing sponge iron,” he said. Direct reduction is a process of reducing iron ore in solid form by reducing gases while sponge iron is the product created when iron ore is reduced to metallic iron, usually with some kind of carbon, such as charcoal, at temperatures below the melting point of iron. This results in a spongy mass, sometimes called bloom, which consists of a mix of incandescent wrought iron and slag. Sponge Iron is a recognized alternative to steel scrap as a raw material for the manufacture of various steel products.
Karbasian viewed Iran’s southern ports and free trade zones as the main target of the country’s development projects.
“Iran intends to achieve an annual 55-million-ton steel capacity by 2025, therefore we are more than willing to benefit from the cooperation of hi-tech, economically powerful countries,” he said
