BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 18
By Elnur Baghishov - Trend
As many as 37 percent of the mines at the Semnan province in northern Iran are non-metallic deposits, said Mohammad Foruhar, deputy head of Semnan Province Industry, Mine and Trade Organization, Trend reports citing official website of the organization.
According to Foruhar, there are 230 non-metallic mines in Semnan province, and 93 of them operate continuously.
Foruhar added that 128 mines are operating, and nine mines are being prepared for commissioning.
"These mines mainly extract barite, coal, zeolite, silicon dioxide, salt rock, feldspar, sodium sulfate, bauxite, industrial soil, fluorine, turquoise and sulfur," he said.
The official added that 626 mines of Semnan province have operating license, 46 percent of them work in the area of construction materials, 37 percent are non-metal deposits, 14 percent are metal and three percent extract precious stones.
As many as 20 percent of Iran's mines are located in Semnan province. In terms of the number of mines, Semnan province ranks 5th in Iran and 6th in terms of mining. Semnan province produces 23 million tons of ore a year.