Iran holding 2% of global iron ore share

Sajjad Ghoroqi said Brazil, Australia and South Africa are the world's major iron ore exporters, IRNA reported.
He noted that the high volume of iron ore exports in the country is due to the fact that the infrastructure for processing the mineral does not exist.
"The export of iron ore is by no means the export of raw materials. Iron ore production is an expensive and time-consuming activity that requires a great deal of exploration, mining and processing," he said.

Although mining is among high risk activities that require huge investment, most Iranian mines are located in deprived areas. The official said putting the mines into operation not only helps generate jobs and income, it also reduces migration to urban areas.

Ghoroqi said that due to their restrictions, domestic steel plants do not have the capacity to use all the country's iron ore output.

"Meeting the requirements of domestic industries is a top priority for iron ore producers," he said.
"Creating obstacles for exports will harm employment and would be against the interests of the country."
Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation (IMIDRO) announced in a report that Iran produces 27 million tons of granular iron ore per year, which can be concentrated by using modern technologies.
The report added that the Iranian Mineral Processing Research Center (IMPRC) is currently concentrating iron ore tailings using biotechnology, IMPRC, an IMIDRO affiliate, is carrying out mineralogical and bacteriological studies, separating bacteria and enriching the samples in culture medium, the report said.
Later, it will conduct complementary analyses and the final electrolysis.

IMPRC is in charge of concentrating iron ore tailings of Golgohar mine in Kerman province, according to the report.

It added that domestic private and public companies exported 20 million tons of iron ore worth $3 billion in the last Iranian year (started March 21).

Of the figure, 12 tons pertained to the private sector and the rest to the public sector.

Last year, Iran produced 390 million tons of minerals. The figure is expected to reach 570 million tons by the end of the Fifth Five-Year Economic Development Plan (2015).

Mineral exports account for about 32 percent of non-oil exports.

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