Iran seeking South Korean finance for mining projects

Iran has invited South Korean companies to invest in its mining projects.

In a meeting between the chairman of the board of directors of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation (IMIDRO) and the chairman of the International Contractors Association of Korea (ICAK), the Iranian side invited Korean firms to invest in iron ore and pellet production projects, according to the Mehr News Agency.

IMIDRO Chairman Mehdi Karbasian said that according to the Iranian law, foreign investors will be given the right to operate Iranian mines for 25 years.

In March, Karbasian said that 37 foreign companies have announced readiness to invest in Iran’s mining projects.

Some sectors of South Korea’s business industry will be allowed to resume trading with Iran as policymakers have decided to partly lift a ban on exports to the Middle Eastern country on March 17.

On March 11, the South Korean Finance Ministry said that it decided on the policy restrictive and will apply only for some service industries, following the U.S. administration’s recent easing of economic sanctions on Iran for six months between January 20 and July 20 this year.

The ministry said the beneficiaries of the coming ban-lift will be the four sectors of construction, telecommunication, medicine and medical service management, and automobiles. “The service businesses of the four sectors will likely expand, in particular,” said an official who wished to remain anonymous.

In 2012, former Iranian industry minister Mehdi Ghazanfari said that Iran possesses two percent of the world’s total mineral reserves.

He added that the mineral reserves include 12 metal and 36 non-metal ores.

About 5,000 mines are being exploited in the country, he stated.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Geology and Mineral Exploration Organization Deputy Director Behrouz Borna has said that the Islamic Republic of Iran has the largest mineral reserves in the Middle East.

Iran is also one of the top 15 countries in the world in regard to mineral reserves and exports its industrial and mineral products to 159 countries, including Iraq, China, the United Arab Emirates, India, and Afghanistan, he stated.