BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 11. Iran is expanding its mining sector in the West Azerbaijan Province, which is located in the north-west of the country, the Deputy Chairman of Industry, Mine and Trade Organization of West Azerbaijan Province, Jalal Dastranj said, Trend reports.
The official announced that 27 new mines are planned to become operational soon in the province. These mines have a total mineral reserve of 15.6 million tons, and they have been explored with a cost of about 178 billion rials (about $4.25 million).
Dastranj also said that 19 mines were launched in the province in the fifth month of the current Iranian year (July 23 through August 22, 2023). These mines have a combined mineral reserve of 18.4 million tons, and they will produce more than 424,000 tons of minerals annually. The launch of these mines cost about 346 billion rials (about $8.23 million) and created 117 jobs.
The province has 554 active mines with a total workforce of 5,430 people. The proven mineral reserve of the province is 1.2 billion tons.
As reported, Iran has more than 50 billion tons of mineral reserves in total, and it extracts more than 400 million tons of minerals every year.
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