Azerbaijan, Baku, Feb.23 / Trend F.Mehdi/
Iran exported $2.233 billion worth of mineral products in the first 10 months of the current Iranian calendar year, which began on March 20, 2012, showing 21 percent rise compared to the same period in the previous year, IRNA quoted Iranian deputy industry minister Vajihollah Jafari as saying.
"The mineral exports amounted to 23.279 million tons, showing 20 percent rise year on year," he added. "The exports are projected to reach $3 billion by the end of the current Iranian calendar year."
On February 11, IRNA quoted Iranian deputy industry minister Fereydoon Ahmadi as saying that Iran has invested 131 billion rials (about $10.6 million) in 15 mining projects.
The projects are related to building access roads to mines and supplying power to them, Jafari said.
In January, IRNA quoted Iranian Industry, Mine, and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari as saying that Iran's existing mineral reserves will sustain for 140 years if 400 million tons of the reserves are extracted annually.
Ghazanfari said Iran's discovered mineral reserves are valued at over $770 billion, adding that potential mineral reserves are estimated to be 57-58 billion tons, of which 37-38 billion tons have been proven.
On September 4, 2012, Ghazanfari said that Iran possesses two percent of the world's total mineral reserves.
About 5,000 mines are being exploited in the country, he stated, adding that around 340 million tons of minerals were extracted in the previous Iranian calendar year, which ended on March 19.
Earlier this year, Geology and Mineral Exploration Organization Deputy Director Behrouz Borna said that the Islamic Republic of Iran has the largest mineral reserves in the Middle East.
Iran is also one of the top 15 countries in the world in regard to mineral reserves and exports its industrial and mineral products to 159 countries, including Iraq, China, the United Arab Emirates, India, and Afghanistan, he stated.
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