Iranian Ministry of Industries and Mines has announced that the country's mineral exports have witnessed a considerable growth in the current Iranian calendar year, Press TV reported.
According to the ministry's latest report, the exports of mineral products increased 39 percent in the first eight months of the current Iranian calendar year (March 21 - November 21) comparing to the corresponding period of the last year.
The report added that Iran has exported more than $4.723 billion worth of different mineral goods in the mentioned time span.
Iran is ranked among 15 major mineral rich countries. The country holds 68 types of minerals, including chrome, lead, zinc, copper coal, gold, tin and iron.
The oil-rich country has 37 billion tons of proven reserves and more than 57 billion tons of potential reserves of minerals.
The important mines of Iran include coal, metallic minerals, sand and gravel, chemical minerals and salt.
Iran has the world's largest zinc and second largest copper deposits and ranks ninth in iron. The country with roughly one percent of the world's population holds more than seven percent of the total mineral reserves of the globe.
The Islamic Republic exported $8.1 billion worth of mineral products in the last Iranian year. Mineral production contributes 0.6 percent to the country's GDP.