Prospectors have struck gold in the Yazd Province of Iran. It's still unknown how many tons of gold could potentially be lying underground in the province, a senior mining official said.
"After tracing possible gold-bearing zones in 21 provinces across the country, gold mines have been marked in 10 provinces," deputy head of the Geology and Mineral Discoveries Organization Behrouz Borna said, as cited by Press TV.
It's proven that Iran currently has an estimated 340 metric tons of gold reserves in 24 mines. Fifteen gold mines are currently operational, one is being equipped, and the remaining eight are not working.
With the new found gold reserves, Iran can now increase its gold production to 10 metric tons per year.
Iran's Minister of Industry, Mine and Trade Mohammadreza Nematzadeh said gold is a top priority mineral for exploration and in the future Iran can further boost its gold reserves by discovering new mines.
