Mining projects worth over $1.1b handed to private sector in a year

Some 50 trillion rials (over $1.1 billion) worth of mining projects were handed over to the private sector in the previous Iranian calendar year (ended on March 19), Iran Minerals Production and Supply Company (IMPASCO), announced.

According to IMPASCO which is a subsidiary of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), last year, tenders were held for awarding 12 mining projects in which domestic investors as well as companies from China, Tajikistan, Iraq and Georgia participated.

As reported, contribution of the private sector in the country’s mining sector is going to improve the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the current Iranian calendar year which has been called the year of surge in production by the Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran Seyed Ali Khamenei.

Utilizing the private sector’s resources, the mining sector is going to generate more employment, production and value added for the country.

Last week, IMIDRO Head Khodadad Gharibpour announced that IMIDRO is contributing to $1.93 billion worth of projects that are going to be implemented by the private sector.

According to Gharibpour, IMIDRO and its subsidiaries are going to implement 31 projects, worth $2.276 billion, in a variety of fields including steel, copper, gold, antimony, nepheline syenite, phosphate and also mining infrastructure in the current year.

Due to the significant role of the mining sector in the country’s non-oil exports, the Industry Ministry has provisioned operational targets in the mining sector’s three major areas of exploration, extraction and processing in the current year.

According to Deputy Industry Mining, and Trade Minister Darioush Esmaili, the mining sector accounted for 25 percent of the country’s non-oil revenues in the past Iranian calendar year.

source: TehranTimes