IMIDRO uncovers new mineral reserves worth US$28.7 billion in Iran; 17 million tonnes of bauxite reserve unearthed

New mineral reserves costing over US$ 28.7 billion have been unearthed in Iran by data submitted through the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO).

Rigorous mining expeditions for eight years in Iran have accumulated in IMIDRO’s latest exploration data which shows that the country is fostering 977 million tonnes of virgin iron ore reserves, 496 million tonnes of untouched coal reserves and 182 tonnes of new gold reserves. The excavation began in the year 2013, March 21st (1392, Iranian Calendar) and continued till 20th March 2022 (1400, Iranian Calendar).

The mined area also has been conserving other mineral reserves such as 363 million tonnes of brine, 103 million tonnes of barite, 85 million rare earth elements, 6 million tonnes of antimony and 17 million tonnes of bauxite.

To top everything the mentioned eight years have also discovered 14 million tonnes of new lead reserves and 6 million tonnes of new zinc reserves in the empire.

To accelerate the country’s growth, the Iranian Government has been considering various programmes to advertise the mining sector as the root of Iran’s economy. Iran is one of the top ten mineral-rich countries on the planet with 81 different types of minerals.

2.7 billion tonnes of iron ore reserve, 2.6 billion tonnes of copper reserve and 11 million tonnes of Zinc reserve occupy a substantial part of Iran. 

Though the country has ample prospects in this particular arena, issues like the dearth of important machinery or specific equipment and inability to access financial resources, also foreign investments due to persistent US sanctions have together contributed to forming a suffocating atmosphere around the Iranian mining sector. Iran is unable to reach its full potential for hurdles like these.

The legit reserves in Iranian mines are evaluated at approximately 60 billion tonnes which will expand to 100 billion tonnes as soon as the Industry, Mining and Trade ministry’s exploration programmes are imposed over an area of 500,000 square kilometres of new minable land.

The government programmes crafted for promoting this industry mainly focus on indigenous resources to aid the mining sector in overcoming its current predicament.