TEHRAN – The deputy head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture (ICCIMA)’s Mines and Mining Industries Committee has said the country’s mining sector requires $50 billion-$70 billion of investment to reach a proper development level.

“Returning of the mining sector to normal conditions in various sectors of exploration, extraction, and machinery and compensation of arrears in these areas, requires an investment of 50 to 75 billion dollars,” Mehrdad Akbarian told IRNA on Thursday.

In recent years, the mining sector has not been able to gain the necessary trust of investors, Akbarian said, adding: “Part of this is due to sanctions and barriers in the way of exports, and part is due to changes in domestic laws and regulations. These issues have ultimately led to less investment in this sector.”

According to the official, the mining sector’s priority for attracting investment should be the exploration area, and any country should have a clear view of the amount of its mineral reserves for a period of at least 20 years to be able to plan in this area.

“In this regard, we need a national program,” he said.

The second priority for attracting investments should be the supply of modern equipment and the modernization of the worn-out and depreciated machinery, he stressed, saying: “In this regard, it is necessary for the government to encourage large companies to do the work.”

“In the current situation, the only solution is to persuade large companies to form consortia with small and medium-sized enterprises, so that the accumulation of their capital would ensure large companies to supply raw materials and will also benefit small units,” he explained.

The government must work with organizations and the private sector to design the right models in this regard, he noted.

Having 68 different types of minerals, Iran is one of the top 10 mineral-rich countries across the globe. In this regard, the Iranian government has been seriously pursuing several programs for promoting the mining sector as a major contributor to the country’s economic growth.

Iran's proven iron ore reserves are 2.7 billion tons, while the country’s copper reserves are 2.6 billion tons. The country also has 11 million tons of zinc reserves.

The total proven reserves of Iran's mines are estimated at about 60 billion tons, which is expected to reach more than 100 billion tons with the implementation of the Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry’s exploration programs over 500,000 square kilometers of new mineral zones.

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Highlight: Having 68 different types of minerals, Iran is one of top 10 mineral-rich countries across world