TEHRAN - The managing director of the National Iranian Copper Industries Company (NICIC) has said his company managed to conduct 130,000 meters of explanatory excavation in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21-December 21).

According to Ali Rostami, the excavation conducted in the mentioned nine months is equal to the total figure for the previous year, IRIB reported.

Rostami noted that considering the current trend in exploration projects, it is expected that by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2023) NICIC’s total explanatory excavation operations reach 200,000 meters which is an unprecedented record for the last 50 years.

The official said the conducted discovery excavations have added two billion tons to the country’s copper reserves to improve Iran’s place among the world’s top countries in terms of copper reserves from seventh to fifth place.

Rostami put the country’s current total copper reserves at 19 billion tons, saying that these reserves are enough to supply NICIC’s feed for the next 200 years at the current production level.

“We have started production development plans and hope to increase the NICIC’s production capacity from 250,000 tons to more than one million tons in the next few years, in which case the current reserves will supply our products for more than 60 years,” he added.

Back in September, Rostami announced the discovery of one billion tons of new copper reserves in Iran.

He put the value of the discovered reserves at over $50 billion, saying that the company is taking the necessary measures to begin executing development operations in the newly discovered reserves.

Back in April 2021, NICIC’s former Managing Director Ardeshir Sa'd-Mohammadi announced the discovery of yet another one billion new copper reserves across the country.

The official put the country’s total copper reserves at 40 billion tons, saying that Iran currently has the world’s seventh-largest copper reserves.

Having 81 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.

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.

EF/MA