TEHRAN- Production of copper cathode in Iran rose 2.8 percent in the past Iranian calendar year 1400 (ended on March 20), from its previous year, Industry, Mining and Trade Ministry reported.

As reported, the country produced 299,000 tons of the product in the past year.

Copper cathode is the primary raw material input for the production of copper rods for the wire and cable industry.

Earlier this month, Head of Iran Copper Association Bahram Shakouri said the country is going to increase its copper cathode production from the current 300,000 tons to one million tons by the Iranian calendar year 1404 (starts on March 21, 2025).

“Although less than 300,000 tons of copper cathodes are currently produced in the country, with the development of reserves and more exploration and extraction, the production of one million tons of the product is projected by 1404,” Shakouri stated.

“For the 1404 horizon, production of 800,000 tons of copper is targeted, and if we develop mineral reserves and expand exploration operations while creating more processing plants, the production ceiling of one million tons of copper cathode can be considered for the mentioned year,” he explained.

Referring to the global target for copper production in 2050, the official added: "According to forecasts, copper production in the world by 2050 should reach four times the current level which is over 1.8 million tons.”

Being located on the Alpine-Himalayan orogenic belt, of which about 12.5 percent is located in Iran, the country should contribute greatly to the fourfold increase in the world’s copper production by 2050, Shakouri said.

Stressing the need for planning to increase Iran's share in the world’s copper production, he added: "To increase our share in the global copper production in the 2050 horizon, we must develop both exploration and extraction and discover new world-class reserves.”

According to the official, Iran Copper Association is currently leading the country’s copper exploration programs in collaboration with the private sector.

“New copper mines recently discovered in Sistan-Baluchestan Province (in the southeast of the country) have been the result of such efforts,” he said.

Shakouri stressed that the mining sector, especially in the field of copper, has a bright future considering the elimination of fossil fuels and the movement towards new technologies, saying: “If the country’s mining capacities in the copper field are realized, given the rising global prices for the mentioned product, at least $10 billion of revenues could be generated for the country, along with creating more employment and production which ensures the development of deprived regions.”

The official noted that currently, most of the country’s copper cathode production is exported due to the underdevelopment of downstream industries.

"The government should support downstream industries, including wire and cable production units, and provide incentives to other high-tech industries that use copper products,” Shakouri stressed.

Meanwhile, last November, the managing director of National Iranian Copper Industries Company (NICIC) said; “NICIC has it on the agenda to be placed among the world’s top 10 copper-producing companies within the next four years.”

“NICIC has defined 45 new projects to this end, of which three will be put into operation by late-May 2022 to add 350,000 tons to the country’s copper concentrate production capacity”, Ardeshir Sa’d-Mohammadi said at the time.

Mentioning the company’s new exploration operations across the country, the official noted that recently two billion tons of new copper reserves have been discovered in a region near Sarcheshmeh in Kerman Province.

Stating that NICIC is currently in a good position, the official noted that with new discoveries, the company is on a good upward path.

MA/MA