Baku, Azerbaijan, May 12
By Fatih Karimov - Trend: Fifteen countries are ready to invest in Iran's mining sector, Mehdi Karbasian, the Iranian deputy minister of Industry, Mine, and Trade said.
Multinational companies have put forward their requests for investing in the country's mining projects, Iran's Mehr news agency quoted Karbasian as saying May 12.
"To date, we have received proposals from Germany, Spain, Denmark, Kazakhstan, Belgium, and Britain, as well as from India, Oman, and Kuwait," he said.
Meanwhile, Canada, France, Australia, Switzerland, and South Korea have announced readiness to participate in Iran's mineral exploration projects, he noted.
However, due to the restriction on financial transactions, no contracts have been signed yet, he said.
Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) plans to invest 6 billion euros in 6 mineral projects inside the country.
Deputy Director of IMIDRO Jamashid Molla-Rahman said in July 2014 that the company is also carrying out exploratory operations in over 50 sites across the country.
"There are currently over 5,000 active mines in Iran," Molla-Rahman explained.
Iran is ranked 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. Iran has the world's largest zinc and second largest copper deposits and ranks ninth for its iron reserves.
Edited by CN