Tehran, Iran, April 20
By Mehdi Sepahvand -- Trend:
Mining dropped by 25 percent in Iran in the last Iranian fiscal year (which ended March 19), Iran Mining CEO Abbasali Eqbali Zach said.
He said due to sanctions, the country cannot use the full capacity of its mines at the current time, ISNA news agency reported April 20.
There are 9,000 certified mines in Iran, of which 6,400 are being mined with an annual output of 500 million tons.
The official said the decline in mining was in part due to the shut-down of many factories which were fed from the mines.
A recently published report detailing the country's mining sector of two years ago says at that time 97 percent of Iran's mines belonged to the private sector.
The report adds the value added gained from mining in Iran stood at $3.2 billion, about 15 percent of which related to iron mining, 45 percent to copper mining.