On December 30, Mehr News Agency quoted the head of the Department of Industry, Mines and Trade in Khomein as saying that between March 21 and December 21, 2014, some 90,000 tons of ore was extracted from Khomein Gold Mine. The following is a partial translation of what Mohsen Basardeh had to say to the agency:
The experimental stage of processing and extracting gold from ore through heap leaching – a method which extracts precious metals, copper, uranium, and other compounds from ore via a series of chemical reactions that absorb specific minerals and then re-separates them after their division from other earth materials – has been successful. As of late January the extraction of gold will get underway on an industrial scale.
Over the last year, 170,000 tons of ore has been extracted from Khomein Gold Mine. In light of the fact that the mine is an invaluable reserve, adoption of an industrial method to process gold will turn Khomein – a city in Markazi Province – into a hub for production of precious metals.
The license for the exploitation of the mine was issued three years ago and its exploitation got officially underway with about $1.6 million in investment two years ago.
Khomein Gold Mine holds 1.5 million tons in reserves with a purity grade of 36.03 gram per ton which is a high grade compared to those of other gold mines in the world.
The monthly extraction capacity of the mine is projected to stand at 180,000 tons of minerals.
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So far, exploration licenses for gold and copper have been issued for ten regions in Markazi Province, of which two in Delijan, and one in Zarandieh, in the vicinity of Saveh have produced good results.
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