Miners under the stone supply equipment
Board of Directors of Iran International Stone Exhibition: Miners face many difficulties in importing and repairing heavy machinery, so far no major steps have been taken in producing such machinery in the country.
Ahmad Tavakoli said: "The 12th International Iranian Stone Exhibition will be held in Mahalat, Neymour from 8 to 11 October.
He added: The exhibition has 400 domestic and foreign companies and twenty thousand tons of rock from eighteen provinces. The second meeting of the country's stone table will be held at the same time as officials from the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade and Economic Advisers will attend.
One of the most important plans of this exhibition is to support domestic production and production boom, especially in the mining machinery sector where deficiencies are very high and I believe that much more support and efforts should be made in this area.
"One of the biggest problems in the stone industry now is the supply of mineral equipment," he continued. Most miners are unable to purchase equipment from major manufacturers because of currency surges and sanctions, and have to do so through brokers, which increases their purchasing costs.
Tavakoli pointed out: Most of the foreign mining machinery is second hand, which makes the miners have to deal with problems every day such as repairing these machinery at high cost. Due to the exteriority of these machines, when it comes to sanctions we are having trouble supplying spare parts and these parts are difficult to obtain.
He said that so far no major steps have been taken in producing such machines in the country. Hepco machine tools are mainly suitable for road construction and are of little use in mining. Some Hepco products are currently used in mines but we need large machinery in the mines.
Tavakoli pointed out: For example, we have had some good experiences in the field of rubber production, but some large tires that are suitable for large machines are still not produced in Iran.
"If the heavy machinery is manufactured in Iran, the miners will certainly use it, and we would welcome the presence and display of these machinery in the best possible way," he said. Last year, one of the biggest exhibit booths was dedicated to Hepco products, which were very well received.
Tavakoli noted: There are many valuable experiences in the field of production of stone crushing machines and currently very good "saws" are being produced in Iran which need to be replicated in the field of large mining machinery.
