Mr Ardeshir Saad Mohammadi MD of the National Iranian Copper Industries Company has announced that by the implementation of the current development plans, Iran’s copper production will increase 3.5 fold.

Mr Ardeshir said that “Currently, 40 development plans for copper production with a value of USD 7.35 billion are underway across the country and through the implementation of these projects; Iran’s annual production capacity of copper will rise from the current 200,000 tonnes to 700,000 tonnes showing 3.5 fold increases.”

He stated that Iran currently has the world’s 9th largest reserves of copper and expressed hope that the country would rise two places to seventh place by the end of the current year. Two years ago, Iran stood in 13th place, but due to the discovery of new copper deposits rose to 9th last year.

Mr Mehdi Ghazanfari Industry, Mines and Trade minister of Iran announced at the World Copper Congress in Tehran last month that “Iran's copper production which is already about 200,000 tonnes per year will rise to 700,000 tonnes per year by doing an investment of about IRR 80 trillion while the export value of copper will rise from USD 1.3 billion to USD 4.5 billion by March 2016.”

(Sourced from Mehr News Agency)