TEHRAN – Head of Geological Survey and Mineral Explorations of Iran (GSI) said mining explorations are going to increase by 100 percent in the current Iranian calendar year (ends in March 2021), IRNA reported.

According to Alireza Shahidi, GSI had it on the agenda to explore 150,000 kilometers of land in the current year and following the Leader of the Islamic Revolution’s remarks on the realization of the “Surge in Production” it has increased its target to 300,000 kilometers.

Referring to his organization’s plans for the current Iranian calendar year, Shahidi said GSI is going to improve its performance, especially in the area of exploration of new mineral reserves this year.

The head of the Geological and Mineral Exploration Organization said improving GSI’s exploration performance requires defining a mechanism to provide new financial resources for conducting targeted and extensive exploration operations.

We are seriously looking to pave the way in this regard, and so far we have made significant progress compared to the previous years, Shahidi said.

The official also voiced GSI’s readiness for effective cooperation with the private sector with the aim of completing the exploration cycle and supplying the minerals needed by the country's industries.

GSI has signed several agreements with the private sector for conducting exploration operations since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20).

In early June, Iran's Deputy Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Darioush Esmaili announced that the country’s Mining Investment Insurance Corporation (MIIC) was going to allocate 30 trillion rials (over $714.2 million) for supporting mining exploration projects.

He further noted that the ministry has it on the agenda to increase the country’s discovered mineral reserves by 25 percent in the current Iranian calendar year.

EF/MA