Over 7,000 mine discovery licenses issued in Iran

Asadollah Keshavarz said in an interview with IRNA that in addition to the licenses, some 12,000 issued mining discovery licenses are used by active miner companies today, 8 to 9% of which manage to discover a substance, which is the prerequisite for issuing the exploitation licenses.

He said that one reason for being inactive of some discovered Iranian mines is the market status, which is somehow under the influence if the world markets as the demand for some mining products has lowered.

'The depression in building construction market has affected the decorative stone mines for facades and other building usages,' he cited as an example.

The official also said about 62 mining substances are excavated in Iran, classified in two categories.