Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 23/ Trend G.Mehdi/
Iran plans to extract some 400 million tons of minerals by the end of the current Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2013), IRNA quoted deputy industry minister Vajihollah Jafari as saying.
The figure will be around 15 percent higher year on year, he added.
Iran's mineral extraction is projected to hit 570 million tons by the end of the fifth five-year development plan (2015).
On December 17, Jafari said that some 1.6 trillion rials (about $130 million) has been invested in mining explorations in Iran during the past three years.
Iran is ranked among the 15 major mineral-rich countries of the world and exports its industrial and mineral products to 159 countries, including Iraq, China, the United Arab Emirates, India and Afghanistan.
Iranian Industry, Mine and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari has said that Iran holds two percent of the world's total mineral reserves.
He added that the mineral reserves include 12 metal and 36 non-metal ores.
Some 5,000 mines are being exploited in the country, he said, adding that around 340 million tons of minerals were extracted in the past year, which ended on March 19.