Azernews.Az

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that the country can replace oil revenues with mineral incomes.

Sanctions on the oil sector should be seen as an opportunity toward developing the mining sector, he added.

"I believe that different capacities of the mining sector can be activated within 5-6 months with the goal of substituting the oil sector," he noted.

Earlier this month, Iranian deputy industry minister for mining activities Vajihollah Jafari announced the country's proven mineral reserves amount to 40 billion tons, of which 98 percent - mainly iron ore, zinc, and lead - is possessed by the private sector.

Jafari said that more than 5,600 mines are being operated in Iran.

In January, IRNA news agency quoted Iranian Industry, Mine, and Trade Minister Mehdi Ghazanfari as saying that Iran's existing mineral reserves will sustain for 140 years if 400 million tons of the reserves are extracted annually.

Iran's discovered mineral reserves are valued at over $770 billion, he noted.

Iran holds three percent of the world's mineral reserves, putting it first in the Middle East and third in Asia.

Iran has about 68 kinds of minerals, and 20 other types of minerals have been identified through recent explorations.

At the beginning of 2012, the United States and the European Union imposed new sanctions on Iran's oil and financial sectors.

The sanctions, which prevent the EU member states from purchasing Iranian oil or extending insurance coverage for tankers carrying Iranian crude, came into effect on July 1, 2012.

The U.S.-engineered sanctions were imposed based on the accusation that Iran is pursuing non-civilian objectives in its nuclear energy program.