Azerbaijan, Baku, Nov.4 / Trend F.Milad/
Iran possesses 3 percent of the world's total mineral reserves, ranking the country in the first place in the Middle East and the third in Asia, an official with the Geological Survey of Iran stated.
Behrouz Borna told the IRNA news agency that 68 different minerals have been explored in Iran.
Iran exported over 10 million tons of mineral goods, worth $2.73 billion, during the first three months of the current Iranian calendar year (began on March 21).
The amounts show increase by 68 percent and 9 percent in terms of value and weight respectively compared to the relevant figures of the same time span in previous year, the IRNA news agency reported.
Iran is ranked among the 15 major mineral rich countries and exports its industrial and mineral products to 159 countries including Iraq, China, the United Arab Emirates, India and Afghanistan, according to Press TV.
It lies on 37 billion tons of proven reserves and holds more than 57 billion tons of potential reserves of some 68 types of minerals, including chrome, coal, copper, gold, iron, lead, tin and zinc.