With the new government, mining economy has become more important in our country, and we hope to step in the path of modern mining, with the continuation of movements and actions, especially in updating the policies of this sector and letting the investments flow, and the development of the mining sector.
According to the Mining Investment Insurance Corporation’s public
relations, quoting from IRNA, Iran owns 1% of the population, 1% of the
surface, but on the other hand, 7% of the mining supplies of the world. It is
considered one of the richest countries in minerals, and so we have to have
enough investments for its infrastructures.
Considering the mining supplies, Iran is considered to be among the ten
richest countries of the world that with the current economic conditions and
certain limitations, has been able to provide for a minor part of the foreign
exchanges through exportation of mineral products, and is now planning for the
thirty years ahead.
The policies regarding the mining sections should be in accordance with the
supplies, and we may be able to plan for 50 years ahead for the countries of
this region.
Today, strengthening the mining economy of a country is the key point, and
is prioritized. For every job in the mining sections, 17 jobs would be created
in the dependent chain, and this is a milestone in creating jobs for the
country.
Meanwhile, mining supplies have always been known as the reliable lever and
the infrastructure of the production, employment, currency exchange and creating
value for the country.
For now, based on the recent statistics, the country’s mineral supplies are
worth 1100 billion dollars, but using these supplies in the path of creating
added value and developing the mining economy of the country would need a brave
and smart management which would go toward development of the infrastructures,
tackling the obstacles, creating legal support and in one word, is a good politician.
The lack of stability in laws, creating extra expenses in production, the
lack of support from investors in different areas, and also biased negative
advertisements against mining economy and the local protestors have hurt this
section. This is while creating one job in the mining section can indirectly
create 17 other jobs. In addition to providing for the raw material for the
domestic industries and exporting more than needed, this not only will
strengthen the country’s limited foreign exchange sources, but also will deepen
the national security as the market becomes dependent.
There have been good steps taken towards using the huge mining potentials
of the country, since the 13th government has started working,
especially regarding the eliminations of the deterrent by-laws and a new
outlook towards providing for the mining machinery and tools needs.
After 22 years, today we are revising mining policies, focusing on policies
where the miners have the outlook towards sustainable development, and mining is
done based on territorial planning and sustainable development.
The Expediency Discernment Council came up with the mine document in 2000,
and the Supreme Leader confirmed it. Now we are witnessing changes in the
mining policies after 22 years through different and numerous meetings. These
meetings started 8 months ago.
In addition to Iran’s Mine House, other related companies and organizations
in Iran’s Mines Act 24 are also present, such as the Ministry of Industry, Mine
and Trade and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. And we will definitely
have some changes in the law after the policies are confirmed by the Supreme
Leader and announced, and the outlook of the people in charge should also be
the same.
Modernization of Mining Industry
What is clear is that development in the mining industry is not possible
unless enough attention is paid to the infrastructures such as providing for
the needed machinery in the current economy of the country. This is being
analyzed by the mining deputy of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade.
The problem with the machinery is that during the last two and a half
years, there was serious danger to development, and in some cases, to maintaining
the current situation. This issue is being followed in a certain path by the
authorities and the outlook of protecting and developing domestic production
can be very well seen in it.
We need a certain program and schedule for developing this section, but the
policies of the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade also include this, and we
would probably not have this problem. We would not have faced such unsuitable
situation if the modernization of the mining industry was done regularly during
the previous years, but providing the machinery is seen as a part of a
comprehensive plan by the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade now, and we are
grateful for that.
Today we have to work on quality and quantity optimization of our domestic
production, so that we would decrease our imports as much as possible.
Meanwhile, when we cannot provide for the mining needs of our country, we have
to find the easiest ways to do it.
Today we are witnessing that people responsible for the mining section have
defined a suitable path for it. A path that has observed, and can manage, the
domestic production well, and can also plan how to provide for the machinery
whose production is not possible in the country at the moment and are not
enough for what the country needs. The path mentioned above is seen in the form
of a comprehensive plan, and we are grateful for it.
Development in the mining section needs at least 2 million meters of
digging per year, and our machinery is not enough for that. The current
machines also cannot dig deep. But today the people responsible in the mining
section have professionally identified the needed machinery for future
development and we have to get along with this development plan.
There have been, however, domestic companies that produced mining machinery
like HEPCO, which have great experience in producing mining machinery. HEPCO
used to assemble excavator below 400 tons, bulldozers with the capacity of 155,
the needed graders and 60 tons dump trucks, but it was out of service in a
specific period, in a way that we have been facing a serious lack of bulldozers
during the last three years, and now we have to deal with mining machinery in the
domestic market twice the real price.
As the first company for mining machinery in the country, HEPCO started
working in 1986, when the country needed so much construction and machinery. At
that time the need for mining machinery was clearly discussed. HEPCO programmed
for this. The needed machinery for the day were L90 loaders, and L120 to L470
like Komatsu’s, but today we have small, medium and large mining industries and
we cannot, for sure, work with small machinery and tools.
Iran’s mining section has estimated that it would increase its production
up to 700 million tons in three years, and we cannot match that with the
previous policies for providing machinery, nor can we maintain our current
production.
According to this, the policies of the people in charge of the mines for
preparing the mining infrastructures today are appreciated, and all the organizations
and subsidiaries should come together for executing the mining development
projects, which is a strategic part in the country’s economy today.