TEHRAN - The Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) has invested more than 16.285 trillion rials (about $32 million) for the development of infrastructure in the country’s mining zones in the first 11 months of the current Iranian year (ends on March 19).

As IRNA reported, 14 trillion rials (about $28 million) of the mentioned figure has been provided by the organization itself and the rest by the government and private investors.

Following the mentioned investment, IMIDRO currently has 16 road construction projects in eleven provinces of the country, including Semnan, Kermanshah, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, Mazandaran, Fars, Yazd, West Azerbaijan, North Khorasan, Razavi Khorasan, Zanjan and Bushehr.

The entity is also construction power transmission lines with a total length of 148.7 kilometers to several mines across the country.

Having 81 different types of minerals, Iran is one of the top 10 mineral-rich countries across the globe. In this regard, the Iranian government has been seriously pursuing several programs to promote the mining sector as a major contributor to the country’s economic growth.

Iran's proven iron ore reserves are 2.7 billion tons, while the country’s copper reserves are 2.6 billion tons. The country also has 11 million tons of zinc reserves.

The total proven reserves of Iran's mines are estimated at 60 billion tons, which is expected to reach more than 100 billion tons with the implementation of the Industry, Mining, and Trade Ministry’s exploration programs over 500,000 square kilometers of new mineral zones.

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