Iran Press/Iran News: Bahram Shakouri made the remarks on Sunday, in an exclusive interview with Iran Press on the sidelines of the Second Specialized Exhibition and Forum of Mines, Non-ferrous Metals Exploration, Extraction, and Processing, saying: "Naturally, the first step in development of mining is to explore and extract our mining resources here in Iran."
"Wall Street has estimated the total value of Iran's natural resources and reserves to be about 27.3 trillion dollars, and part of this is Iran's mineral reserves, and currently, we have the fifth largest and most valuable mineral reserves in the world," the official added.
"Iran covers one percent of the world's land area. We have about one percent of the world's population, and about one percent of the world's mineral reserves," Shakouri noted.
"It is also important to note that geophysical and aerial exploration to locate mineral reserves and reservoirs have been carried out in about 7 percent of Iranian territories," he added.
"If we expand this activity, and conduct geophysical and aerial exploration in more regions of the country, naturally, the estimates of our mineral reserves will increase several-fold, and we will have a bigger share of the world's proven (known) mineral reserves," Head of ICCIMA said.
"We have to make crucial and fundamental investments in our exploration and extraction activities," he concluded.
The second Specialized Exhibition and Forum of Mines, Non-ferrous Metals Exploration, Extraction, and Processing opened in Olympic Hotel Tehran on Sunday and will continue until 21 January 2020, with senior officials attending.
104/211/214
Read More:
2nd specialised Expo., Forum of Mines, Non-ferrous Metals kicks off
Iran's second international conference on mines and Non-Ferrous metal industries investment kicks off
Iranian steel industry achievements exhibited in Russia
