According to the International Iranian Stone Exhibition, according to the available information and statistics, there are more than ten thousand small, medium and large-scale mines in the country, and among them, almost two thousand mines are in the field of decorative and construction stones. The total reserves of decorative and construction stones in the country are about five billion tons, but nevertheless, in 1397, about 11 million tons of stone were extracted and the highest extraction in the last ten years is related to 1391 with sixteen million tons.

In an interview with Engineer Ahmad Sharifi, Secretary General of the Iranian Stone Association, the central issue was the situation of the Iranian stone industry and whether it can be concluded that this industry has a specific strategy or not.
In the following, you will read our conversation with the Secretary General of the Iranian Association of Decorative and Building Stones.

* According to available statistics, from 1390 onwards, the peak of stone production was in 1391, and in our country, sixteen and two million tons of decorative stone were extracted, and then we had one hundred and ten million square meters of processed stone in that year. On the other hand, we have statistics on the existence of five billion tons of decorative stone reserves in Iran. With this significant reserve identified, do we really need to seriously explore new discoveries?

The reserves of decorative stones are five billion tons, but we must keep in mind that the sale of decorative stones is related to the taste of the consumer market. Sometimes, a type of stone becomes fashionable in the market, and as a result, many mines that can extract that stone are activated. Later, that stone may go out of fashion and those mines will stagnate.
So we have to be constantly exploring and having new stones according to the tastes of the market in terms of color, composition and structure of the stone so that we can always be present in the global market with complete diversity. In other words, the discovery of decorative stones on a continuous basis is a necessity and must be done.

* Mr. Rahmati, Vice President of the Stone Association, said in July 2009 that 1,200 of all decorative stone mines are active. At present, how much capacity do these mines have and what are their disadvantages?

Now, out of those 1,200 mines, about a thousand are active, which means that we have closed some mines again. Due to the internal recession, as well as the problems that the Ministry of Industry and Mines and the government have created in terms of exports, our production process is declining. As a result, the sixteen million tons of rock extracted in 1391 has decreased to nine to ten million tons in recent years. The number of 16 million tons of stone that was extracted in 1391 has decreased to nine to ten million tons in recent years.

* There is also a statistic that the domestic consumption of decorative stone is about seven million tons. Is the surplus of extracted and processed stone left and not consumed?

Yes. We produce about seventy million square meters of processed stone, for which we need about seven million tons of stone. In total, about nine and ten million tons of rock are produced annually. In previous years, we had one million tons of exports, which has now been reduced to five hundred to six hundred thousand tons and halved. Naturally, surplus consumption and exports are not loaded in the mines, and one of the problems of our mines is the lack of sales and loading of stones in the mines.

* The Iranian Stone Association was established in 1998 and was formed on the basis of cooperating with relevant government centers and developing the country's stone industry. In this context, what is the status of the policies pursued by the Stone Association and the actions it has taken in the field of exploration and extraction?

In our meeting with Dr. Ismaili, the new Deputy Minister of Mines of the Ministry of Industry and Mines, we said that the Ministry, with its implementation and executive regulations of the Mining Law, has caused problems for our mines in terms of extraction, exploration and export. . This is because the ministry does not cooperate with us. The Ministry does not use the incentive issues mentioned in the law and executive regulations and is committed to doing so, and only pays attention to the punitive points of the law. For example, if the owner of an operating license violates a certain amount, his license will be revoked. The law states that state mining rights should be used to build infrastructure and develop the exploration, processing and export sectors. All the legal materials that exist and oblige the Ministry of Industry and Mines to develop the mining and mineral industries have been stopped by this ministry, and what the ministry implements is only the punishments contained in the law.

* This is how the government works in relation to the mining sector, according to your Excellency. How do other institutions, such as the parliament or the expediency council, act?

Our argument about not enforcing the law and not supporting the development of the mining and processing sector is that when the ministry does not act, we, as an organization, follow up and reflect the problems to the parliament and elsewhere, but with Unfortunately, we do not see support and we do not know what to do. This situation is boring and liberating for us.

* Has the association entered the field of decorative and building stone exploration through the support of its members?

The duty of the association is not executive work and the duty of the association is support. Support is also through government and governing bodies. The association should follow up and put pressure and talk about the problems and difficulties and ask the government, the ministry and the parliament to untie the knots. For example, in the field of exploration, we had several meetings with Dr. Ismaili, the current Deputy Minister of Mines of the Ministry of Industry and Mines, and Dr. Sarghini, the former Deputy Minister, but all the factors of the Ministry are for the lack of development of the mining sector. We can't do anything and that's why I say we are tired. The same mistake that Mr. Ahmadinejad's government made, setting seventy percent of tariffs and destroying our markets, has now been repeated.

* The officials of the Ministry of Industry and Mines emphasize on this issue that raw materials should not be sold and processing work should be done on minerals?

We are not talking about the sale of raw materials, and the ministry, in the time of Mr. Sarghini, was discussing the sale of raw stones about decorative stones. It was a mistake and now they want to remove it. The same mistake that Mr. Ahmadinejad's government made, which set 70% of the tolls and destroyed our markets, has now been repeated. After a year of imposing tolls under Mr. Ahmadinejad, fortunately the expert work was done and the tolls were canceled at 70%. In other words, the same thing was done again by Dr. Sarghini, former Deputy Minister of Mines of the Ministry of Industry and Mines in 2009.

* Mr. Ismaili has been appointed as the Deputy Minister of Mines of the Ministry of Industry and Mines since early February 2009. Isn't there a specific strategy and there is no ground for the 20% tax on stone exports to be abolished quickly and the destructive effects of the tariffs to be eliminated?

We have informed the ministry about this issue, and now the ministry agrees to cancel these tolls. A meeting was scheduled to take place in mid-July 2016 at the Presidential Palace, and the commission that cancels the tolls would cancel the tolls. Of course, the meeting of that commission was not held.

* It is stipulated that fifty percent of the amount of government salaries received from the mines be spent on exploration and development of infrastructure. Even Mr. Vajihollah Jafari, the then Deputy Minister of Mines in 1391, had promised that sixty-five percent of government salaries would be spent in this area. In all the past years when the mining law has been implemented and the issue of taking government salaries from mining activists has been raised, has this amount come to the fields of exploration and the like?

In a meeting we had in July 2016 with Dr. Ismaili, Deputy Minister of Mines of the Ministry of Industry and Mines, I explicitly stated that during the last twenty years and since the passage of the Mining Law until today, this article states that sixty-five percent of salaries The government should return to the ministry and spend it on developing exploration, processing and export support, and building infrastructure and export development, but it has not been implemented. It is also said that 20% will be spent on research and exploration by the miner. In this regard, the ministry has not provided any support. It is also said that 15% will be spent on local affairs, ie infrastructure projects will be implemented in the area of ​​the mine, but this has not been done either. It is on this basis that I say that the legal provisions for the support and development of the mining sector have not been implemented by the Ministry in any way. I do not have to deal with anyone and I have announced this in an official letter.

* If you do pathology, why does not the budget and amount set by law for exploration go to that direction?

In a word, the weakness of ministry managers.

* The amount of government salaries in 1398 was about one hundred and eight hundred billion tomans and the government has taken this amount from the country's mines and deposited it in the country's treasury. How is it possible that the share of the exploration sector in the amount of government salaries will return from the treasury to the exploration sector, and should the parliament clearly legislate and come in the budget to determine the definite task for the development of the exploration sector?

After all the talk and pressure, it was decided to allocate this amount. Dr. Ismaili, Deputy Minister of Industry and Mines, said that in 1399, according to the budget law, it will be allocated to the ministry to do this. We hope that this law will be implemented from this year and that the share of the mining exploration and development sector will be paid.

* Do you know exactly how much of that 1,800 billion tomans of government salaries have been taken, how much has been allocated to the field of decorative stone exploration?

There is no number in this field and it is zero. The private sector has entered the field of exploration and has so far entered. An important issue now is that the decisions of the Supreme Council of Mines bring exploration to a standstill. For example, the director of South Khorasan Province complained that the entire region of South Khorasan Province was blocked for exploration and that those who blocked it were not qualified to do so. When the license is revoked and the license is to be revoked, it is treated in such a way that neither exploration nor extraction and processing takes place. The look is not a developmental and supportive look.

* In July 2009, you held a meeting at the Sang Association with Mr. Nakhaei, a representative of Nehbandan and Sarbisheh constituencies in South Khorasan Province. Do you think holding such meetings can have a positive effect?

We held this meeting and it is decided that once a month, we will have a joint meeting between the board of directors of the association and industry activists in the relevant province and present and plan solutions for the development of mines in this province. Dr. Nakhaei was positive and said that he would attract all kinds of support from the parliament and other places. We hope that with the help of the members of the new parliament, we will be able to put pressure on the government system to adapt itself to the development of the mining sector.

* The roadmap of the mining sector was announced in 1397 and its implementation will continue until the end of 1400. What do you and the Stone Association think about this map?

Four years ago, in the form of the Association, we prepared a roadmap in the field of decorative stones and approved it in the Mining Policy Council. It did not work at all. When a roadmap is prepared, the roadmap sets out requirements, and nothing will happen if the ministry and the government do not provide those requirements for the implementation of the roadmap. As a result, the roadmap remains only on paper and does not become operational. Four years ago, we prepared a vision document for the stone industry and it was approved by the ministry, but the ministry did not take a single step to implement this plan. All these roadmaps remain on paper and are not implemented.

That is, there is practically no will to enforce these documents?

Yes. Unfortunately, there is practically no will to implement them. If there is a supportive view of the stone industry, when domestic consumption decreases, we can increase exports and open up global markets. Success in this way requires a supportive view by the Ministry of Industry and Mines, and there is no other way. There is none of this.

* In 1396, when there were no 20% tolls in 1398, one million tons of block stone was exported and five hundred thousand tons of stone were cut. Why in 1396, when there were no tolls, exports did not flourish seriously?

We had a terrible decline in the export of block stone and processed stone after they imposed a 70% tax on exports and later abolished it. Even we had a decrease in the export of processed stone, and it was not the case that the export of block stone was stopped and the export of processed stone grew. There is a detailed expert discussion in this case, but since then we have had an increasing trend of exports until in 1397 we reached the export of one million tons of quarry stone and about six hundred thousand tons of processed stone exports. About thirty to forty percent of that trend in 1398 with a 20 percent toll, decreased at once.

* What rocks are currently booming that companies want to explore?

The world stone market is moving in different directions at different times. At one time, the stone known as porcelain stone, which is white and gray, no longer had a customer, but now it has been two or three years since the taste of the world market has returned to it. Now our Chinese stones are flourishing and its mines are growing. Gray marbles and marbles are also growing. The discussion of exploration manifests itself according to the tastes of the market and at different times.
Travertine has always flourished and will continue to flourish. Because it is a special stone and because of its high strength and longevity and ease of cutting, it is used in the facade of the building. As a result, travertine has a market in the world and has a special place. This stone is also welcomed in the country. We have no problem in selling travertine. Of course, travertine comes in a variety of colors, including red, yellow, cream, and white. Now our travertine stone has a special place in export markets. Of course, red travertine, which once had many customers, has no customers today and its mines are not active.

* After the 1,200 active mines announced in 2009 by the vice president of the Stone Association, have new mines started operating or been discovered to somehow show that we have a special strategy in this area?

We have not moved much in the direction of mining development. It is only possible that a few specific mines have started operating in terms of market conditions. Some mines that are good in quality, color and composition are being equipped, but their number is small.

* Your Excellency, in the previous decades, you were active and responsible in the Ministry of Industries and Mines, and then you entered the private sector. In the field of decorative and building stones, has there been a specific policy and strategy from the beginning?

We drafted the vision document about four years ago. In the vision document, we mentioned how much to produce, how much to export and how much to process. We had specified how much to export in block form and how much in processed form. Our vision document is a plan, but I reiterate that if the government and the ministry do not meet its requirements and are not supported, that vision document is only on paper.

What about the whole country which is a document and all the pillars of the government and the government and the private sector believe in it and has such a document existed in recent decades?

There is no such document in any period and in any industry. The legislature has assigned the task and policy on production and industry has been given to the Ministry of Industry and Mines, and it is the Ministry of Industry and Mines that should implement the program. Now the ministry is not fulfilling its duties, it must be dealt with, and the judiciary must deal with it so that this ministry can fulfill its legal duties.

* Dr. Ismaili, who was a member of parliament and chairman of the Mining Committee for the ninth and tenth parliamentary terms, followed up and a roadmap for the mining sector was prepared and announced. Such a document has been prepared by the parliament and exists.

The mine roadmap is a good thing and it exists, but the ministry must implement it in order to achieve its goals.

* A part of the mining roadmap is dedicated to the issue that the budget should be given to the Geological Survey of Iran for exploration.

I do not believe so. It is true that the Geological Survey needs funding and has to carry out its exploration programs, but more importantly, if the ministry provides security for the private sector, provides tools and equipment, the private sector can be sure that if it conducts exploration, the system will He supports, the private sector can work in the exploration sector.

* According to the available statistics, in 1989, Iran exported about eighty million dollars worth of decorative stones and Turkey forty million dollars. Does Turkey have a specific strategy in the field of stone export and exploration, which now exports more than two billion dollars, and Iran has less than five hundred million dollars a year in stone exports?

The Turkish government has provided all the tools and equipment to support the stone industry, including export incentives, interest-free financial support, even gratuitous financial support, participation in exhibitions and payment for attending international exhibitions, payment for warehouses and exhibitions. Permanent cracks in target markets. The Turkish government has provided every opportunity and the country's stone exports have reached over two and a half billion dollars, but we have not done any of that.

Q: Do you think Turkey has a specific strategy or only actions are being taken?

Definitely has a strategy. When we have a vision document but do not implement it, Turkey definitely has a vision document.

* China, Turkey, Italy and India are the leading countries in stone extraction and export. Have you done a specific comparative study of their actions and the possible strategies of those countries?

We have made a detailed comparative report in this area.

* The Iranian Stone Association has also held talks with Italy in recent years to use new knowledge and technologies in the stone industry. Were such memoranda of understanding implemented in order to apply the new achievements of the world in the fields of exploration and extraction and to acquire the knowledge and technical knowledge of the day?

We do not have much problem in using technical knowledge in mining and stone processing. Fortunately, there is technical knowledge of exploration, extraction design and processing. We do not worry about exploration, extraction and processing. The key is that we enable our production units to have an economic turnaround. When a mine wants to have an economic turnaround, both the domestic market and its exports must be without problems. When our processing unit wants to export, it must provide the necessary incentives in the export sector to be able to have an economic turnaround. Success in these areas is due to the fact that we provide the platform for the mining and processing sector to develop this sector.

Q: So the memorandum that you signed with the Italian Stone Association did not come to fruition?

Under that agreement, the Italian side was supposed to bring about seven hundred thousand euros, but we faced sanctions and unfortunately that work was stopped.

* In your opinion, are there facilities and knowledge in the country that we can move forward in the field of decorative and building stone exploration and not have problems?

Certainly, we have the necessary technical knowledge.