Data released by Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization shows that copper ore extraction during the same period amounted to over 143 million tons.
Copper sulfide extraction topped 40 million tons, which was four percent more than the planned figure.
Copper concentrate output during the period under review stood at 897,258 tons. Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex, Iranian Babak Copper Co., and Sungun complex accounted for over 80 percent of the output.
Copper anode production in Khatoon-abad Copper Refinery during the nine-month period reached 82,063 tons.
Nationally, copper cathode output during the period was over 179,000 tons.
Sarcheshmeh Copper Complex, the leading copper producer in Iran, is planning to boost its copper concentrate output capacity from the current 600,000 tons to over one million tons by 2022.
Established in 1972, the complex operates the open cast copper mine in Kerman Province, which is considered the second largest copper deposit in the world. The mine was first established by the American Anaconda Group until the 1979 Islamic Revolution in Iran, which led to the nationalization of assets and establishment of National Iranian Copper Industries Company (NICICO).
NICICO is now the leading copper producer in the Middle East and North Africa region holding close to 14 percent of Asia’s copper reserves and about three percent of global deposits. The company operates several other copper mines in the country.
Iran’s copper reserves hold an estimated of four billion tons of copper ore, the Geological Survey of Iran reported.
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Tehran, Jan 5, IRNA - Major Iranian copper complexes produced about 228 million tons of copper during the first nine months of the current Iranian year (March 21, 2018-December 22, 2018).
