Mining Industry

ining in Iran is underdeveloped. Yet the country is one of the most important mineral producers in the world, ranked among 15 major mineral-rich countries, holding some 68 types of minerals, 37 billion tonnes of proven reserves and more than 57 billion tonnes of potential reservoirs. Mineral production contributes only 0.6 per cent to the country’s GDP.[3] Add other mining-related industries and this figure increases to just four per cent (2005). Many factors have contributed to this, namely lack of suitable infrastructure, legal barriers, exploration difficulties, and government control over all resources. The most important mines in Iran include coal, metallic minerals, sand and gravel, chemical minerals and salt. Khorasan has the most operating mines in Iran. Other large deposits which mostly remain underdeveloped are zinc (world's largest), copper (world's ninth largest - revised from second largest in 2010), iron (world's ninth largest), uranium (world's tenth largest) and lead (world's eleventh largest). Iran with roughly 1% of the world's population holds more than 7% of the world's total mineral reserves. Close to 30 percent of the country’s investment has been made in the mining field in recent years. In 2008, forty five percent of the stock market's capitalization was in the mineral industries. In 2008 the share of the mining sector and mineral industries increased to over five percent in GDP. The sector with the highest profit margin among the top 100 Iranian companies in 2009 was mining, with a margin of 58%, while those in the Fortune 500 had a gross profit margin of 11%. In the first quarter of 2009–2010, Iran exported close to 5.6 million tons of mineral products worth over $1.2 billion. In 2009–2010 the mining sector had exports reaching $8.13 billion, accounting for about 32 percent of the country’s non-oil exports. Every year, the iron ore price is determined by the government after negotiations between iron ore and steel producers. In 2008, the average price of iron ore was set at $56 per tonne. The steel, cement and iron ore prices are currently being liberalized in Iran. In March 2012, the Iran Mercantile Exchange (IME) announced the complete liberalisation of the sale price of raw steel and by-products.

Sarcheshmeh is a large open cast copper mine in the Kerman Province of Iran, considered to be the second largest copper deposit worldwide. Also containing substantial amounts of molybdenum, gold and other rare metals. The Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex is located 65 km southwest of Kerman and 50 km south of Rafsanjan. The region's altitude averages about 2600m, the highest spot of which approximates 3000m. Sarcheshmeh ore bodies, situated in the central part of Zagros ranges, consist of folded and faulted early tertiary volcano-sedimentary rocks. Sar Cheshmeh mine was managed by the Anaconda Group up until 1979 revolution in Iran. Design and construction of the processing plant was done by Parsons-Jurden of the US. Production units of Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex involve the mine itself, concentrator, smelter, refinery, foundries and leaching. Iran possesses very large copper resources and numerous copper porphyries occur in an arcuate belt extending from northwest Iran, southeast into Pakistan. These deposits are estimated to contain around 5% of the world’s known copper resources. National Iranian Copper Industries Company (NICICO) is involved in exploration, excavation and operation of copper mines in Iran. The company's smelter has an annual production capacity of 145,000 tons of anode copper. The company owns the Sarcheshmeh copper deposit is located in southern Iran, about 65 Km south-east of Rafsanjan. It has a total reserve of 1,200,000,000 MT with an average grade of 0.70 % Cu. Sarcheshmeh porphyry (Granodiorite stock) and peripheral Andesitic volcanics are well mineralized, these series is cutted with post mineralization dykes. NICICO also owns the Miduk and Sarcheshmeh mines which have proven reserves of 83,830,000 t and 826,500,000 respectively. Miduk produces 5,000,000 t and Sarcheshmeh 14,000,000 t of copper per annum. The Soungoun Ahar mine produces 7,000,000 t of scarn copper grade (0/5 %) Faraz Ma'aden Anarak Co. owns the Maskani copper mine located in Isfahan, the mine produces 55, 000t of copper per annum.

is the emission of characteristic "secondary" (or fluorescent) X-rays from a material that has been excited by bombarding with high-energy X-rays or gamma rays. The phenomenon is widely used for elemental analysis and chemical analysis, particularly in the investigation of metals, glass, ceramics and building materials, and for research in geochemistry, forensic science and archaeology. When materials are exposed to short-wavelength X-rays or to gamma rays, ionization of their component atoms may take place. Ionization consists of the ejection of one or more electrons from the atom, and may occur if the atom is exposed to radiation with an energy greater than its ionization potential. X-rays and gamma rays can be energetic enough to expel tightly held electrons from the inner orbitals of the atom. The removal of an electron in this way renders the electronic structure of the atom unstable, and electrons in higher orbitals "fall" into the lower orbital to fill the hole left behind. In falling, energy is released in the form of a photon, the energy of which is equal to the energy difference of the two orbitals involved. Thus, the material emits radiation, which has energy characteristic of the atoms present. The term fluorescence is applied to phenomena in which the absorption of radiation of a specific energy results in the re-emission of radiation of a different energy (generally lower).