According to the International Exhibition of Iranian Stone, the Organization for the Development and Renovation of Mines and Mineral Industries of Iran (Imidro) has been determined to modernize the mining and mineral industries since the 1980s, but this is dependent on financial and foreign exchange support, whose restrictions have hampered overall performance. 

The Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade predicts that there will be an increase of one hundred to one hundred and twenty million tons of extraction from the country's active mines this year, and this does not seem very realistic with machines that are over thirty years old.

According to the official statistics of the ministry, 321 mining machines and equipments were imported last year, while on average, each mining unit needs four heavy machines and with 5,600 active mines, On average, more than 20,000 machines are needed, and with the high cost of such machines, operators need government support.

A supportive approach to localization growth

The Deputy Minister of Industry, Mines and Trade said: "Hepco has been handed over to the Social Security Organization, but nevertheless, Imidro's supportive approach to the localization growth of this company has not changed and will be pursued within the framework of production leap."

Khodadad Gharibpour added: "Imidro's development missions with a national perspective, in the year of the production leap in support of the mining sector and mining industries, the development of cooperation with this producer with a long history will continue."

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of Imidro added: "Hepco's capacities have been identified in cooperation with the mining and mining industries, and the company has announced its readiness to repair companies' equipment such as excavators, hydraulic cylinders, rollers, etc."

The first step of HEPCO is to build seven hundred machines

 This week (August 26), a memorandum of cooperation between large mining companies and mining industries with Hepco was signed, and in the first step, seven hundred road construction machines are to be built and delivered by Hepco by next year.

Gholamreza Roozbehani, Vice President of Finance and Administration of Imidro Organization, said in the program of signing a memorandum of understanding between large mining companies and mining houses with Hepco: "According to the short-term production plan, two hundred and four road construction machines are planned this year and seven hundred and seventy four machines Road construction tools to be produced in 1400.

According to him, the "medium-term" HEPCO program is the continuation and stability of the company's production and conducting research and engineering activities for the production of mining machinery, and in the "long-term", the production of mining machinery along with road construction machinery is planned.

Mining operations of about one and two billion tons

The head of the Mining Investment Insurance Fund said: "About one and two billion tons of mining operations are carried out annually in the country, so the modernization of machinery plays a key role in increasing productivity in the mining sector and the mining industry."

Farid Dehghani said: "Today, we must plan in such a way that along with increasing productivity, we can improve the quality, at the same time producing minerals at the lowest price."

Confirming that the only way to supply large machines is to import, he said: "It is necessary to choose the easiest and most accessible and at the same time the cheapest way."

Country mining machinery with non-standard life

Experts and mining activists, while confirming the long life of the machines used in the country's mines, have pointed out that the life of the machines in the country is more than fifty to one hundred thousand hours, and this is much higher than the world standard.

According to forecasts, by 1404, the amount of extraction from the country's active mines is expected to exceed five hundred million tons per year.

Mining activists have now suggested that restrictions on the import of machinery be lifted, as these machines will eventually be transferred to the production cycle, and that contractors' currency must be sourced from the secondary currency.

Machine wear and tear results in reduced efficiency

Today, mining experts emphasize that weak technology and limited imports have reduced the efficiency of the machines, and on the other hand, the rental version provided by the employers has not been a healing version so far.

While the issue of repairability of old machines is not approved, at the same time it has time, the end of the corona was previously predicted in May of this year, but now it is estimated that by the end of this year we will not reach last year and on the other hand now Renovation is not for all machines, but improvement is the focus.

The removal of barriers to the import of mining machinery is demanded by the activists of this sector, because the jump in production in the current situation is made possible by the easy import of machinery.

History shows that second-hand machines in 1392 with five years of operation, could have a customs exemption, but from early 2017 the time period was increased to ten years.

The mining contractors believe that the restriction on the number of imports of machinery should be lifted and the issue of foreign exchange supply should be resolved.

History of Hepco cooperation with Imidro

 According to a contract, by the end of the fourth plan, about one thousand loaders and bulldozers will be handed over to the miners by the Organization for Development and Renovation of Mines and Mining Industries (Imidro) with special facilities.

 In 1383, about two hundred machines were handed over and by the end of 1384, the handing over of two hundred machines to the miners was on the agenda.

The fact that the development of the mining sector and increasing productivity in this sector requires the modernization of machinery, and the government must spend money to modernize the mining machinery so that this sector is economically justified and the existing employment is maintained.

Granting facilities to the miner or importing machinery

Today, Hepco has announced its readiness to respond to the mining and mineral industries, but how accountable can the production capacity of the company's mining machinery be, and should the government put support for the import of second-hand machinery on the agenda, or rather support? Follow the miner by providing appropriate facilities to purchase inexpensive machinery.

Activists of the mining sector believe that when the problems of domestic production and the capacity of this sector are limited, the use of second-hand mining machinery in the country's mines is an option, but most of these machines have lived more than a decade and do not give much hope.

Statistics on the status of machinery used in mines indicate that loaders and bulldozers are the most important needs of private sector miners and five thousand and six hundred active mines in the country need to be renovated.

According to the report, Mobarakeh Steel, Melli Copper Industries, Chadormelo and Gol Gohar, Mining Investment Insurance Fund and Iran Mining House signed five memorandums of cooperation with Hepco in Imidro.

"According to these memorandums, companies are in fact cooperating with Hepco, which are responsible for two-thirds of iron ore mining operations, sixty percent of copper mining and production, and 30 percent of the country's steel," he said.

* IRNA