TEHRAN- Iranian Deputy Industry Minister Mehdi Karbasian announced that during the past Iranian calendar Year 1396 (ended March 20, 2018) exports of domestic mining sector stood at $9 billion, IRNA reported.

As he told reporters on Tuesday, exports of steel chain, in the previous year, was predicted to reach 8 million tons, while the figure hit 9.5 million tons and the exports were made to new destinations such as Canada, Mexico, and East-Asia.

“In 1396, Iran exported 740,000 tons of sponge iron and 18 million tons of iron ore concentrate,” he added.

Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) and its affiliated companies inaugurated $2 billion of projects in the said time, he added.

As Karbasian announced, by the end of the present Iranian year (March 20, 2019), about $6 billion of new projects will be inaugurated in Iranian mining sector.

Iran is one of the top 10 mineral-rich countries where 68 types of minerals have been identified so far, including the world’s largest deposits of copper, zinc and iron ore, which are tempting international investors after the lifting of economic sanctions against the country in January 2016.

HJ/MA