Reviving and reactivating small mines was a big step to reach a revolution in mining in order to replace the oil income with the mining income, and it is among the upstream documents which the government has seriously paid attention to.
Reviving and reactivating small mines was a big step to reach a revolution in mining in order to replace the oil income with the mining income, and it is among the upstream documents which the government has seriously paid attention to.
According to the Mining Investment Insurance Corporation’s public relations, the statistics show that there has been good work done in mining section, and considering the current potentials and sources, the work can improve. This is one of the government’s policies in the Year of Production Prosperity regarding the development of mines and mining industry. So far there has been 5 programs and general strategies designed in the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, which are now scheduled to start.
Considering the huge role of the mines in the country’s economy, especially now, the opportunity must not be missed, and therefore executing the Mine and Mining Industry’s road map, the discovery activities development project, completing the base metal value chain project (steel, copper and aluminum), utilizing and reviving the country’s mines project etc. is among the scheduled projects of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade.
The other topic demonstrated by the statistics is the employment, which shows that 85% of the mining employees work in small mines, which constitute 65% of the whole mining production, and considering the fact that 98.3% of the country’s mines are small mines, the Ministry has scheduled the reviving and reactivation of 150 mines this year.
The country has infinite sources and high potential to bring foreign exchange, which puts the exportation of the minerals in a very high priority. The Ministry and the Minister himself is focused on this matter at the moment, alongside the reviving project. Therefore Mr. Reza Rahmani selected IMIDRO’s chairman as executor of the Reviving and Reactivating Small Mine Project, which is one of the projects of the resistive economy.
According to the experts, the small mines of the country are actually the hidden potentials, and reviving them helps with the production prosperity and preservation of the national resources. The Supreme Leader has always emphasized on the non-oil sources to replace the oil in order to develop the country’s economy, and the mines can provide for this replacement, as they are now in the upstream documents.
The Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade has always talked about a huge change in the mining industry, and has announced that there would start mining projects worth more than 100 billion Tomans, in this number will reach 300000 billion in the near future.
Mr. Reza Rahmani also emphasized on completing the base metals value chain project alongside the small mines reactivation, and so the mining road map has been scheduled in order to reach all of this, and can be a huge step in developing the country’s mines.
“The responsibility of executing this project is with vice-presidency of the Mine and Mining Industry Affairs, with the cooperation of IMIDRO and Geological Survey & Mineral Explorations of Iran.” Said Mr. Saeed Zarandi, deputy of Designing and Planning of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and trade, “the responsibilities in the Mine and Mining Industry’s road map is determined in each section, and has already started. There are 5 projects in the development of the Mine and Mining Industry, and the most important one is the execution of the road map, which is what we are doing right now.”
The Execution of these projects would not take place without the cooperation of people and the private section, and that is why the Minister, Mr. Reza Rahmani, has always emphasized on the cooperation with the private section in anything related to mines and mining activities, and has asked the private section to specifically invest in the reviving and reactivating small mines project. He mentioned that “the ‘Reviving, Development and Reactivating the Small Mines Projects’ aims for the cooperation from people and the private section, and that is why we invite people and different communities to participate.”
Following this, the large companies have announced that they are ready to buy the minerals produced in these small mines with the current rate and through long-term contracts, guaranteed of course, and according to experts, investing in mines is highly feasible, and the investors will reach great results at the end.
According to Mr. Reza Rahmani, “the Country’s Mines Activation Program includes 5 basic aims which are the execution of the Mine and Mining Industry’s Road Map, the Discovery Activities Development Project, Reviving, Development and Reactivating Small Mines Project, Completing Base Metals Value Chain Project and utilizing the county’s mines, and we hope to see a great change in this very important part of our country’s economy in a few years.”
Since most of these mines are located in deprived and under privileged areas of the country, they will be granted more benefits in these projects. The Minister also emphasized that all the activities from financial turnovers to supplies providence of these mines, and even hiring the employees, have to take place in the very area where the mine is located, so that the people pf these deprived areas would feel the change these activities bring with themselves. This will definitely help with development, employment, prosperity and flourishing of these areas.
“The Reviving and Reactivating Small Mines Project has already started in deprived Provinces such as Sistan and Baluchestan and South Khorasan.” Said Mr. Sergheini, the Deputy Minister for Mining and Mineral Industry’s Affairs of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade, “since most of these mines are located in deprived and under privileged areas, we have to pay attention to the employment in these areas, and fortunately the government and the private section have been able to reach a serious cooperation to execute this national project. We have to consider that most of the country’s mines are small in size, and play a very important part in the economy and the mining section’s value added.”
“98.3% of the country’s mines are small mines,” said Mr. Jafari, the CEO of Iran’s Minerals Production and Supply Co, “we have 5647 active mines in the country, Isfahan Province has the highest number of mines at the moment, and Khorasan Razavi Province has the highest number of inactive mines. There are 200 mines that are being utilized at the moment, and most of them are located in Markazi Province. Without doubt this is a huge step to reach the production prosperity, creating employment and development, and the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade is serious about it.”