TEHRAN- The annual amount of newly-found mineral reserves in Iran will reach 1.078 billion tons by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2017), IRNA quoted Asadollah Keshavarz, the director general of Mineral Discoveries Office in the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade, as saying.

Mehdi Karbasian, the head of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), announced in last July that 34 mining and mineral industries projects, costing $7.2 billion, would become operational in the country by the end of the current calendar year.

Back in last May, Karbasian said that Iran had offered $40 billion in mining projects to foreign investors.

The value of minerals Iran exported during the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, - December 20, 2016) has witnessed a 50 percent jump, According to Iranian Deputy Industry, Mining and Trade Minister Jafar Sarqeini.

The country has exported some $750 million worth of such products in the mentioned period, the official said.

“Added up by the mining industry’s exports, the total value of exports in this area reaches $5 billion which stands 16 percent higher than the figure for the same period last year,” he added.

MA/MG