According to the International Iranian Stone Exhibition, the orange marbles of North Khorasan are a hidden gem in the shell of the green mines of this region. These mines face various problems that are either being extracted at a small level or have remained inactive.

No one dares to buy marble for export

Abolfazl Shahsavar is one of the owners of the orange marble mine in Bojnourd city. He stated that the condition of the marble mine, especially the orange mines, is not good at all. Let go of the mines and we are handing over another mine in the next few months.

He added: "Because of the situation, no one dares to go near these mines to buy marble."

Shahsavar stated in connection with the problem: in the past, each ton of marble extracted at a price of one hundred and five thousand tomans from this area reached Bandar Abbas, and from there each ton reached about one hundred thousand tomans to one of the Chinese ports.

He pointed out: "But now the cost of transporting each ton of ore from Bandar Abbas to China (due to customs duties on raw minerals) has increased tenfold and it is generally not economical for the exporter to do so."

The mining activist explained: "The problem has caused only first and second grade stones to be purchased from orange marble mines, and third and fourth grade stones remain, which in the past were also purchased as third and fourth grade stones."

Precious stones that turn to dust in the heart of the mine

He pointed out that the accumulation of thousands of tons of third and fourth grade stones in the mine are the result of the reluctance of exporters to buy this type of stone, he continued: there was no place to put these stones in the mine and therefore all of it We crushed precious stones and turned them into rubbish.

Shahsavar stated: The stones that we could get a lot of added value by exporting them have become waste stones that are used in matters such as mosaic work and stoning.

He specified: collecting customs duties from raw mineral ores and currency fluctuations have caused us to increase production in this mine to about a quarter.

Shahsavar pointed out: Of course, it should be noted that the purchase price of stone from the mine has only doubled, but its transfer from Bandar Abbas to China has multiplied.

Orange marble does not have many customers in the country

In response to the question whether orange marble ores do not have customers in the country, he said: "Since the price of these stones is high, it is not economical for people to buy it and use these stones in places such as shrines." Becomes.

The mining activist pointed out that Iran does not have a processing industry for this type of stone, and if it does, it is not accepted by foreign customers, adding: "These stones are exported to China, processed there, and then to other countries in the name of the same country." Be issued.

Disappointed with the extraction

Ali Asghar Shadmani, another miner from North Khorasan, continued: "We are extracting in one of the orange marble mines on the outskirts of Shirvan, but we have not yet reached the big cups, and what is being harvested now are marble carcasses and potted peaks."

He stated that the high price of machines for extraction is one of the main problems of this mine and added: the price of each large excavator and loader has reached about four billion tomans, which is a high figure.

Shadmani continued: "There is a small excavator in this mine, but we need large excavators to extract more and reach the cups and semi-cups."

Referring to the sales situation of orange marbles, he said: "We are a little disappointed in the discussion of extracting these minerals due to the problems ahead, but for now we have resisted."

No brand has been defined for North Khorasan marble

Rezazadeh, deputy director of industry and mining of the North Khorasan Industry, Mining and Trade Organization, said: "Marble and marble ores are among the best decorative stones in this province, but no brand has been defined for them yet."

He pointed out that this province has good mines of orange marble and cream marble stones, adding: the lack of processing units in this province has caused these stones to be exported from the province to other provinces and abroad without the mark of North Khorasan.

He continued: "On the other hand, the lack of processing units has caused these stones to leave the province in raw form."

Rezazadeh, pointing out that most of the marble mines are located in Bojnourd and Marble in Shirvan, said: But usually these mines do not work at full capacity, now the marble and marble mines of North Khorasan with fifty percent of their nominal capacity in They are active.

He further said: with the adoption of the law on duties on the export of mineral raw materials, the marble mines of North Khorasan will operate with less capacity than in the past.

Noting that this law also applies to the mines of North Khorasan, the official added: "If marble is exported raw, tolls must be paid for it."

In response to a question that, according to miners, Chinese and Italian customers do not accept domestically processed marble, he said: "We are looking to set up a processing unit for minerals in this province by the private sector." But so far, the investment has not announced its readiness to create this production unit.

Pointing out that there are nine marble mines in this province, he said: "Their production is two thousand tons per year, while the marble reserves in these mines are five hundred to six hundred thousand tons."

Thousands of inactive building stone mines in the country

During a visit to North Khorasan last week, Aghajanloo, the deputy head of the Imidro organization, told the provincial mines council: "There are two billion tons of building stone reserves in the country's mines, with a production capacity of only 20 million tons and ten processing plants." Up to twelve million tons.

He pointed out: "So this shows that there is a missing link in this and we are currently pathologizing these mines to find a way to activate them."

He further stated that the number of inactive building stone mines in the country is more than one thousand.

* ISNA