At the meeting with Afghanistan’s Minister of Mines and Petroleum Daud Shah Saba, Mehdi Karbasian expressed Iran’s readiness to share its experiences in the field of mining with Afghanistan and said, “Iranian Mines & Mining Industries Development & Renovation (IMIDRO) is ready to hold training courses in theory and practice areas both for mine workers and technicians."
He offered some practical suggestions for cooperation between the two countries; “over the past two years, IMIDRO has made mine exploration consultations with over 50 specialized companies and is able to help Afghanistan in relevant fields by forming collaboration teams."
Karbasian stressed that raw retail is not in favor of any country and added, “since Snagan mines are jointly shared by Iran and Afghanistan we suggest creation of a factory to produce iron ore pellets and concentrate to be used domestically or to be exported.”
“We are also eager to build a steel plant with a capacity of one million tons for Afghanistan in addition to using our expertise to create a cement factory there due to its need for reconstructions,” he added.
Deputy industry minister further stated that Iran possesses one of the largest mineral processing research centers and is eager to hold research training courses for Afghan miners as well as to carry out common research projects.
Afghanistan’s Minister of Mines and Petroleum Daud Shah Saba, for his part, deemed Iran as a country with great treasures and Afghanistan as a country with precious mines and said bilateral cooperation can eventually lead to the welfare of Afghan people.
Shah Saba further pointed to the commonalities between Iran and Afghanistan; “in terms of foreing investment, Afghanistan’s top priority goes to neighboring countries especially to Iran with whom we share similar culture and language,” he added.
The Afghan official called for the strengthening of communication and cooperation between the two countries in all fields and said only 25 percent of Afghanistan’s mines have so far been identified.
“With regard to mining, Afghanistan is a young country with unspoiled and untouched mines which require new technologies for exploitation,” he noted.
Shah Saba further expressed hope that cooperation in the field of mining will lead to more value added for his country and expressed readiness to send graduate students in fields of mining and geology to Iran for training.
He also welcomed the IMIDRO’s proposal for joint cooperation in Sangan; “we welcome any project in this regard as long as it is to the benefit of the two sides,” he concluded.
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