According to the International Iranian Stone Exhibition, the development of mining explorations plays a crucial role in mining activities and is considered the cornerstone of mining in all countries. Mining stakeholders believe that mineral exploration is the most important element in starting any mining project, and its proper implementation can ensure the success of mining operations. Samat newspaper talked about the importance of exploration in the mining sector with Vahid Saebfar, a member of the board of directors of the Tehran Mining Engineering Organization, which you can read below.

What are the reasons for the importance of exploration in mining?

In general, in order to produce any kind of mineral, in other words, to carry out mining operations, a plan and model on the surface and deep expansion of the mineral are needed; For example, if we want to build a building, we must first have a building plan so that we can plan and then build a building based on the details in the plan. Similarly, when planning for the extraction and production of minerals, there must be sufficient and accurate information about the status of the mineral at the surface and depth of the earth so that the mineral can be produced in the best way and with the lowest cost and highest efficiency. Lack of this information can lead to problems such as the weakness of optimal mineral extraction in terms of grade, mixing high-grade parts with low grade and as a result loss of mineral grade, wrong landfill on ores, use of incorrect extraction methods, selection of unsuitable extraction machines and. .. that all these problems will eventually lead to mining failure and huge losses to mine owners.

 What is the situation of Iran in the field of mining?

Fortunately, due to the diversity of minerals throughout the country, the unique geological location of Iran, the existence of necessary infrastructure for mining such as roads, railways, electricity, telecommunications system, cheap energy, the existence of export ports in the south and north, cheap and abundant labor, Good climatic conditions in many parts of the country, as well as a large number of mining and geology graduates, Iran can be considered a mining paradise. Remains and evidence of mining from thousands of years ago in all parts of the country indicate the prosperity of mining in all historical periods in Iran.

 What are the challenges of mining, especially exploration in Iran?

The main challenges of mining and exploration can be divided into several categories. The first is the rules and regulations governing mining activities, which are enforced by government agencies. These include the Ministries of Cultural Heritage and Industry, Mines and Trade, Natural Resources, Environment and Atomic Energy Organizations, and in some cases the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Roads and Urban Development. Although mining is legal in Iran according to the Mining Law and its regulations, many government agencies prioritize their laws and regulations over the mining law. The second major challenge of exploration is the severe financial weakness of individuals and legal entities, especially those who are not affiliated with the government or semi-government companies and are privately engaged in mining. Due to financial constraints in the private sector, many mining activities are affected by a lack of liquidity. Another challenge in exploration is the shortage of skilled professionals.

With the expansion of higher education, there are many mining and geology graduates in the country, but since all aspects of mining and mining require practical experience and less attention is paid to skills training in universities today, many graduates lack the necessary skills to advance various related matters. With mining are such exploration. This lack of experience in many mines has caused huge losses to owners. One of the missions of the Mining Engineering System Organization is to hold training courses for graduates with an emphasis on skills training courses, but in many cases and for various reasons, holding these courses has not been as successful as it should have been. The fourth challenge is marginal issues such as local opposition, fuel and water supply problems, access road construction, inflation and the steady increase in service and expertise costs, and so on. The last challenge is the lack of skilled and experienced experts and managers in all aspects of mining, especially exploration.

Of these, how much does the lack of a skilled and experienced manager affect mining?

In general, mineral exploration involves several technical know-how, including the preparation of geological and mineral reports and maps at various scales, telemetry surveys, geochemical studies, geophysical surveys, design and execution of surface and deep excavations, and sampling. Finally, the information enters the mineral software and causes the creation of a database in the GIS environment and the necessary interpretations to determine the mineral model and grade and storage. According to the standards of the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade, exploration is divided into four stages: identification, exploration, general and detailed, and many of the cases are carried out in some of these four stages with different goals and scales; Therefore, a skilled and experienced exploration project manager is needed to be aware of all the technical, managerial, and priority aspects of each case in order to be able to plan and direct each one according to priority; In other words, an exploration manager must know geology, geochemistry, geophysics, drilling, mineral analysis, exploration interpretations, and related software in order to carry out an exploration project well and successfully.

What are the requirements for having a skilled manager?

Acquiring skills in various aspects of mining, especially exploration, is time consuming. From personal experience I can say that training an exploratory project manager takes more than 20 years. I believe that a skilled and experienced exploration project manager should have an average age of at least 50 years. The manager must also have in mind the accomplishment of a number of his exploration projects that have eventually become active mines; In addition, the main condition for training such a manager is to provide a suitable platform for all mining work and a variety of exploration projects. Of course, in the current situation, due to various economic reasons and sanctions, there are fewer conditions for mining, both in the public and private sectors; Thus, the necessary conditions for training exploration project managers have not been provided. In addition, currently the number of successful exploration project managers is less than the number of fingers of two friends. These people are all at least in their sixth decade of life and, in other words, they may be effective for another 10 years; Therefore, it is predicted that the country will gradually face the vacancy of exploration project managers, which is catastrophic for the country's mining in the coming years.

What is your suggested solution for training the next generation of exploration managers?

Numerous factors can be effective in training exploratory project managers, the explanation of which is very detailed, but a few can be briefly mentioned; The first is the qualitative development of higher education, instead of the quantitative development in the fields of mining and geology, reducing the number of students and continuing to train talented, interested and motivated graduates. In this process, it is possible to focus on holding training courses for students in a real, not formal way. Before graduation and sending students to the mines, 6-month courses should be considered for them. The second is the financial issue. Because the working conditions of mining engineers and geologists are difficult and they have to spend long periods in mining areas away from their families, their salaries should be much higher than other engineers. This makes these people want to be in the mines for years.

If we look at the developed countries, this issue is quite noticeable; For example, the salary of a mining engineer with 10 years of experience in Australia is more than $ 150,000 a year, which is more than the income of a specialist doctor. The third is to lay the groundwork for investment in the mining sector. In fact, creating a suitable platform for encouraging investment in mining and mining by the government will increase the number of active mines and enable mining engineers and geologists to gain more experience. Also, creating the necessary conditions for experienced foreign experts to come to the country and providing suitable conditions for sending Iranian experts abroad for skills training and sharing technical, scientific and experimental experiences are key issues in this field. The last case is the strengthening of the institution of the Geological and Mineral Exploration Organization of the country. This organization is the main institution in charge of exploration in the country. The role of this specialized organization is key, as a number of successful exploration project managers in the country have gained experience working in this organization.