TEHRAN- Extraction of coal in Iran has dropped 16.3 percent during the first quarter of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20-June 20), compared to the first quarter of the previous year, IRNA reported citing the data released by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).

The IMIDRO data put the coal extraction in the first three months of the present year at 396,626 tons, while the figure was 474,202 tons in the same time span of the past year.

As previously announced by IMIDRO, the annual production of coal in Iran reached 1.585 million tons in the previous Iranian calendar year 1398 (ended on March 19).

The country's average annual coal concentrate production is about 1.5 million tons, while the country's current demand has reached two million tons.

Currently, Iran’s coal sector provides employment for 17,000 people, however, the capacity of the country’s coal mines is much more than this figure, and development of the mining sector and modernization projects can play an effective role in increasing employment in this sector.

Unofficial data indicate that there are 185 small and large coal mines in the country, of which more than 59 percent are currently active, while 10 mines are being equipped and prepared, and the rest are idle.

MA/MA