Development of private sector activity in exploration
Managing Director of Mines and Metals Investment Company: There are several companies working in the field of drilling, but our team intends to strengthen this sector and move towards accelerating exploration in the country by concentrating and integrating them.
According to the International Stone Exhibition of Iran, there is no other way than to go through the process of identification and exploration in order to activate the mines and exploit their capacities in the country. Although we have done very well in surface exploration so far, decent work has been done and significant reserves have been exploited, but if we are to enhance our capabilities and one day not meet the end of mineral deposits, we must move on to deep exploration.
Samat Newspaper talks with Azizullah Assari, Managing Director of Mines and Metals Investment Company, about the steps taken by the Mines and Metals Investment Company to develop knowledge and support the knowledge base.
How much have we invested in the exploration of new mines in Iran?
Nowadays it is necessary to pay attention to the issue of mining in exploration. The fact is that unfortunately we have very little exploration. According to statistics, only about 5% of the country's area has been explored. Although we have various related organizations involved in exploration, including the Geological Survey and the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Commerce in the form of Imidro and Iran Mining Company, we unfortunately do not have a common database that contains all the information in Summarize the discovery made in the mining sector. It also makes sense for analysts to focus on existing information and derive the best operational results from it.
What steps has the Mining and Metals Development Investment Company taken to increase exploration in the country?
Exploration requires high capital investment and high budget spending, and the private sector does not take the lead in doing risky business, and governments are usually involved in this. In the wake of the government's insufficient funding for exploration, Holding Mines has focused on exploration growth in the country, and has established major mining companies and steelmakers around a large exploration consortium and a firm. The consortium, which has been in existence for about three months, comprises twelve major mining and steel companies. As a first step, we have begun to study the state for about sixty thousand km2 in different parts of the country. Also, to complete the discovery process, we are going to form a large drilling consortium that has taken some initial steps in this area. There are several companies working in the field of drilling, but our team intends to strengthen and integrate this sector by moving focus and synergies to accelerate exploration in the country. To this end, we have been negotiating with the drilling union and several major drilling companies to form a consortium, and we will eventually create a centralized, active company like the one in the exploration work.
One of the measures and mines is hybrid transportation; explain this?
Another successful investment in mining and metals holding business is the creation of a combined transport company. To this end, this year we signed an investment agreement with the Ports and Maritime Organization of 5,000 trillion tomans, which is the largest private sector investment in Iranian port history. Accordingly, a full mechanized dock for steel and mineral transportation will be built at Shahid Rajaee Port, the land needed for the first phase of the project recently provided by the Port Authority. At present, the maximum capacity of the vessels to be sailed is about seventy thousand tons, while our collection is expected to reach this figure of fifty thousand tons. The higher the ship's capacity, the lower the cost of shipping, and the higher the competitive advantage we can offer our products to global markets.
How important is the growth of knowledge base and what steps have you taken in this regard?
The tighter the sanctions space, the more we need scientists. In the country, we have a very significant and significant capacity in the field of science and innovation, especially among the young and the students, which unfortunately is less used in the mining sector. These people need technical and financial resources to encourage them to put their ideas into practice in the industry.
Fortunately, there is a good base in the industry and mine, which is very suitable for startups and scientists. Although many of these scientific centers are eligible for this platform, they are unfortunately not equipped. At the Mines and Metals Development Group, we have set up a venture capital firm to build more relationships between industry and academia. Rasha has been established for fifty billion USD for about six months and is going to help students, scientific and academic centers and knowledge based companies to solve problems in the industry.
