Azerbaijan, Baku, May.20/ Trend, F. Karimov/
A coal concentrates production plant was inaugurated in Iran's southeastern Kerman province with an annual output of 550,000 tons, IRNA reported.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad officially inaugurated the plant. The project cost 400 billion rials (about $33 million) and created over 800 jobs.
In February, IRNA quoted Iranian deputy industry minister Fereydoon Ahmadi as saying that seventeen coal production plans are operating in Iran, which are projected to bring the country's coal output to 4.6 million tons.
The plans are estimated to cost €607 million and 7.59 trillion Rials (about $620 million), and will create 10,000 direct jobs, he added.
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.
Iran's discovered mineral reserves are valued at over $770 billion, he noted.
The potential mineral reserves are estimated to be 57-58 billion tons, of which 37-38 billion tons have been proven, he said.
Iran possesses two percent of the world's total mineral reserves.
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