TEHRAN - Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) is going to spend 10 trillion rials (about $238.1 million) for developing mining infrastructure across the country in the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21), an official with the organization said.

Speaking in an online meeting with the representatives of companies active in the mining transportation sector on Monday, Jamshid Mollarahman said: “This year were are mainly focusing on exploration operations; however, infrastructure is also a necessity for development of this sector.”

"We should take into account international patterns of transportation development in the mining sector and examine the relationship between this field and the mining sector in order to find effective solutions to solve mining transportation problems," the official said.

The official noted that for accelerating the development of the mining sector’s infrastructure, bottlenecks of this sector should be determined and resolved first.

Speaking in the mentioned meeting, the Head of Iran Mine House (IMH) Mohammadreza Bahraman also mentioned some of the issues that the mining sector is currently facing and said: “Since rising transportation fees is posing a serious challenge to mining operations, the capacity of roads and railways in this sector needs to be assessed so that IMIDRO can better decide on supporting and financing transportation projects.”

Last year, Iranian Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry signed a trilateral memorandum of understanding (MOU) with IMIDRO and Geological Survey and Mineral Explorations of Iran (GSI) for expansion of the country’s mining sector.

Development of cooperation in the fields of exploration, extraction and processing of minerals, developing infrastructure, exchanging experiences and abilities among various sectors, and attracting more investment from the country’s private sector and cooperatives in this industry were reported to be some of the main goals of the signed agreement.

In the past few years with new resilient economy strategies coming into play, the mining sector has become a major point of focus for the Iranian government and various organizations and bodies active in this sector have been tasked to implement new programs for developing this sector.

As a major state-owned holding company active in the mining sector in the country IMIDRO has been playing a significant part in the mentioned planning.

The organization has been implementing several new programs in all the main fields of the mining industry including exploration, machinery development, extraction and also reviving the country’s idle mines.

EF/MA