Iran's Sungun copper concentrate output doubles
Baku, Azerbaijan, Feb. 7
By Khalid Kazimov - Trend:
The second condensation unit of Sungun Copper Complex in Iran's East Azerbaijan province was made operational with participation of Iran's First Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri and Industry, Mines and Trade Minister Mohammad Reza Nematzadeh, ISNA news agency reported on Feb. 7.
The new unit with the capacity of 150,000 metric tons will double the complex's copper concentrate output.
The Managing Director of the Iranian National Copper Industries Co. Ahmad Morad Alizadeh said the new unit will be able to receive 7 million metric tons of 0.66-percent copper ore per year and produce 150,000 metric tons of 26-percent copper concentrate.
The unit will accommodate an input of 900 metric tons of raw material per hour.
The unit needs 3.2 thousand cubic meters of water a day to operate.
The official further explained that the domestic equipment needed for the project is worth 200 billion rials (34,200 rials making one USD) and the equipment acquired from overseas worth €68 million.
Iran's copper concentrate production amounted to 594,410 metric tons in the first nine months of the current Iranian fiscal year (March 21-Dec. 22, 2014), the Islamic Republic's Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) said Jan. 10.
Iran holds 3 percent of the world's mineral reserve which puts the country first in the Middle East and third in Asia.
The country is 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.
The important mines of Iran include coal, metallic minerals, sand and gravel, chemical minerals and salt.
The country has the world's largest zinc and second largest copper deposits and ranks ninth for its iron reserve.
