Mining in Iran

Mining in Iran is underdeveloped, yet the country is one of the most important mineral producers in the world, ranked among 15 major mineral-rich countries, holding some 68 types of minerals, 37 billion tonnes of proven reserves and more than 57 billion tonnes of potential reserves worth $770 billion in 2014. Mineral production contributes only 0.6 per cent to the country's GDP. Add other mining-related industries and this figure increases to just four per cent (2005). Many factors have contributed to this, namely lack of suitable infrastructure, legal barriers, exploration difficulties, and government control over all resources.

The most important mines in Iran include coal, metallic minerals, sand and gravel, chemical minerals and salt. Khorasan has the most operating mines in Iran. Other large deposits which mostly remain underdeveloped are zinc (world's largest), copper (world's ninth largest reserves in 2011, according to the managing director of National Iranian Copper Industries Company), iron (world's 12th largest in 2013 according to the US Geological Survey),uranium (world's tenth largest) and lead (world's eleventh largest). Iran with roughly 1% of the world's population holds more than 7% of the world's total mineral reserves.

Close to 30 percent of the country's investment has been made in the mining field in recent years. In 2008, forty five percent of the was in the mineral industries. In 2008 the share of the mining sector and mineral industries increased to over five percent in GDP. The sector with the highest profit margin among the top 100 Iranian companies in 2009 was mining, with a margin of 58%, while those in the Fortune 500 had a gross profit margin of 11%. In the first quarter of 2009–2010, Iran exported close to 5.6 million tons of mineral products worth over $1.2 billion. In 2009–2010 the mining sector had exports reaching $8.13 billion, accounting for about 32 percent of the country's non-oil exports. Every year, the iron ore price is determined by the government after negotiations between iron ore and steel producers. In 2008, the average price of iron ore was set at $56 per tonne. The steel, cement and iron ore prices are currently being liberalized in Iran. In March 2012, the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) announced the complete liberalisation of the sale price of raw steel and by-products. Iran's mineral reserves are valued at more than $770 billion (2014).

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Wikipedia