Iran can substitute oil revenues with mineral incomes: Iranian president

TEHRAN,April 29(MNA) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said that the country can replace oil revenues with mineral incomes. Sanctions on the oil sector should be seen as an opportunity toward developing the mining sector, he added. “I believe that different capacities of the mining sector can be activated within 5-6 months with the goal of substituting the oil sector,” he noted. Earlier this month, Iranian deputy industry minister for mining activities Vajihollah Jafari announced the country's proven mineral reserves amount to 40 billion tons. Some 7,600 mines have been discovered across the country, he noted. In January, IRNA quoted Iranian Industry, Mine, and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari as saying that Iran’s existing mineral reserves will sustain for 140 years if 400 million tons of the reserves are extracted annually. Iran’s discovered mineral reserves are valued at over $770 billion, he noted. In September 2012, Ghazanfari said that Iran possesses two percent of the world’s total mineral reserves. At the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran’s oil and financial sectors. The sanctions, which prevent the EU member states from purchasing Iranian oil or extending insurance coverage for tankers carrying Iranian crude, came into effect on July 1, 2012. The illegal U.S.-engineered sanctions were imposed based on the unfounded accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.