Iran’s annual copper output to reach 440,000 tons by 2015

KERMAN, Jan. 28 (MNA) - Iran’s copper production capacity stands currently at around 220,000 tons per year and the capacity is projected to be doubled by the end of the fifth five-year development plan (2015), the industry, mine and trade minister announced on Thursday. Mehdi Ghazanfari made the announcement on the sidelines of a ceremony inaugurating a number of copper production development plans in southeastern Kerman province. Ghazanfari said Iran holds around 57 billion tons of proven and probable mineral reserves, worth around $770 billion, placing the country among the top ten countries in terms of mineral reserves. Ardeshir Sa’d-Mohammadi, the National Iranian Copper Industries Company managing director, announced in December 2011 that more than 80 trillion rials (some $8 billion) has been invested in Iran’s copper industries since the beginning of the current Iranian calendar year which started on March 21, 2011. Sa’d-Mohammadi said some 36 million tons of copper is extracted annually in the country and the figure is projected to increase to 70 million tons next year. Iran is now at the ninth place in the world in terms of copper reserves, he explained. “Currently, 40 development plans for copper production, with a value of 7.35 billion dollars, 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 tons to 700,000 tons, showing a 3.5-fold increase,” the NICIC chief said in November. He went on to say that Iran currently has 32.5 million tons of copper reserves, but this figure will increase in the coming months.