New plans devised to develop mines across the country need financial resources as much as $29 billion, said Mehdi Karbasian, the head of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO). Karbasian said that IMIDRO was ready to participate in the development plans by financing a good portion of the required investment. He added that seven steel projects are also being financed jointly by the IMIDRO and a Chinese consortium. Karbasian, who is also the deputy minister of industry, mine and trade, said that IMIDRO aims to implement major mining projects in cooperation with the private sector if the National Development Fund of Iran (NDFI) agrees to finance the projects. IMIDRO is currently carrying out a comprehensive mineral exploration plan with the total investment of 1.22 trillion rials.
