(Minews)- Iranian and South Korean officials explored new avenues for the promotion of Tehran-Seoul cooperation in the mining sector, and stressed the need for utilizing all capacities of the two sides to take more operational steps to this end.
Speaking at a meeting with Head of South Korean International Contractors Association of Korea (ICAK) Choi Jae duck in Tehran on Tuesday, Executive Director of Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO) Mehdi Karbasian invited South Korean companies to take part in iron ore concentrates and pelletizing projects.
The project includes 2.4 million tons of iron ore concentrates and five million tons of pelletizing.
"There is a good chance for cooperation and participation of South Korean companies in mines and mineral industries. Korean companies can make a consortium to fund the plans," said Karbasian.
He added the South Korean companies can work on steel, copper, gold, potassium and titanium, and noted Iran plans to implement 7 steel products, produce 10 million tons of steel, 300,000 tons of aluminum and 200,000 tons of copper.
Choi, Jae duck, for his part, expressed the association's interests in paving the way for opening activities in Iran.
Early in December, Karbasian said the value of the country's explored mines now stands at $700bln, adding that more steps should be taken to increase the amount.
"The explored mines value surplus $700bln. The figure shows that more works can be done on the country's mines," he said.
Iran is among the 15 major world mineral-rich countries and exports its industrial and mineral products to 159 countries, including Iraq, China, the United Arab Emirates, India and Afghanistan.
