TEHRAN- As announced by a provincial official, 75 idle mines have been revived in Markazi Province, central Iran, since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2020).

Saeed Jafari Karahroudi , the  head of Markazi Province’s Industry, Mining and Trade Department,  also referred to the five axes defined by the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade in this year, and mentioned one of these axes as the domestic production movement and said: “The establishment of four specialized desks in Markazi Province has been one of the sub-sections of this axis, which has succeeded in this regard, and 125 percent of this goal has been achieved this year, as five specialized desks have been activated.”

According to the available statistics, the number of active mines in the country is more than 5,600 mines, from which an average of 400 million tons of various minerals are extracted annually, and the share of construction materials is estimated at 60 to 65 percent.

Currently, 257 mines are being equipped as part of a comprehensive program for reviving idle small-scale mines across the country.

Reviving 200 idle mines and setting up 25 processing units have been planned for the current Iranian year (ends on March 20, 2021).

Last year, 146 mines were revived throughout the country.

According to the information released by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), the most small-scale inactive mines are located in Khorasan Razavi Province and the least of them are located in the south of Kerman Province and North Khorasan Province.

As reported, under the framework of the mentioned program, 672 idle mines have been identified and prioritized in the current Iranian calendar year, and diagnostic procedures have been performed on 194 mines to determine the reasons for the halt in their production.

The mentioned program, which has been at the forefront of IMIDRO's missions over the past two years, is being pursued in several provinces.

The previous head of IMIDRO has mentioned this plan as one of the most significant plans of “Resistance Economy”, saying that IMIDRO is strongly determined to carry out it.

Reviving the small mines not only is a major step toward materializing “Surge in Production”, which is the motto of the current Iranian calendar year, it also plays a significant role in job creation throughout the country, Khodadad Gharibpour has said.

Following this program, so far various small-scale mines including chromite, manganese, hematite, and dolomite, iron ore, copper, and construction stone mines have been surveyed by monitoring and diagnosing the problems of the mines and providing solutions for resolving their issues.

According to the head of the Iranian Mining Engineering Organization (IMEO), the mines of Iran have 27 widely used minerals,

Taqi Nabi said that Iran produces 13 major minerals in the world and is among the top 10 countries in this due.

He further referred to the government’s plan for reviving the idle mines across the country, and said, “The government has taken good steps to return the closed mines to the production cycle, and good expert measures have been taken.”

Mining units are given a three-month opportunity to determine the status of stagnant and inactive mines in order to revive them, he added.

MA/MA