Iran to boost mine extraction capacity

Iran’s Deputy Minister of Industries and Mines Mohammad Massoud Sameinejad says Tehran plans to increase the capacity of its mine extraction to 500 million tons per year.

“Considering the needs of the country and the potential investments in this sector, the Industries and Mines Ministry has proposed a plan to increase the capacity of mine extraction to 500 million tons annually by the end of the country’s Fifth Five-Year Development Plan (2010-2015),” Sameinejad told IRNA on Sunday.

He further explained that currently, mine exploration and extraction capacity amounts to 260 million tons per year.

The senior official also added that based on the proposed plan, the Islamic Republic also aims to boost the annual production capacity of crude steel, cement, aluminum and copper cathode to 42, 110, 0.91 and 0.45 million tons, respectively.

Sameinejad, however, stressed that the plan has to be approved by the Iranian Parliament (Majlis) before its implementation.

Stressing that at present the share of the industry and mining sector in Iran’s gross domestic product equals to 0.8 percent, he added that this value will climb to 1.2 percent by the end of the Fifth Development Plan.