Baku, Azerbaijan, July 9
Trend:
China investors will make investment for development of Sungun copper mine, located in north western Iran, Reza Sharifi, managing director of Azerbaijan Copper Complex, said.
Next week a contract will be signed with Chinese investors for implementing development projects of the Sungon mine, Sharifi said, ISNA news agency reported.
The projects include the construction and equipping of smelting and refining units as well as a sulphuric acid plant, Sharifi said.
He further said that Chinese have made big achievements in copper industry and equipping the Sungun mining complex with the most updated technologies is important in terms of efficiency and the lowest environmental pollution.
The foreign investors will only be responsible for designing and supplying the main equipment of the project, meanwhile overseeing the implementation and utilization of these projects will be carried out by domestic companies, Sharifi said.
The projects are expected to be implemented within 36 months, he added.
Sungun copper deposit is located in a mountainous area 100 kilometers north east of Tabriz, the capital of Iran’s north western East Azerbaijan province. The mine is estimated to have more than 700 million tons of grade 0.661 percent copper ore reserves.
Iran’s copper concentrate output registered an increase by 6 percent in the last fiscal year, ended March 20, 218. The country produced 1.141 million tons of copper concentrate in the 12-month period.
The country also produced 160,128 tons of cathode copper in the 12-month period, 17 percent less year-on-year. Iran’s anode copper production also stood at 201,234 tons in the last fiscal year, registering a fall by 11 percent compared to the preceding year.
Iran possesses 22 million of copper reserves, equal to 1.3 percent of the world’s proven copper reserves, according to the report.
At present, six copper mines are operating in the country.