The statistics of the Ministry of SAMT on the issue of mining licenses during the 10 months of this year show that 3652 billion Rials were spent on mineral exploration.
According to the latest statistics of the Ministry of Industry, Mines, and Trade, during the first 10 months of this year, the amount of issuing exploration certificates, and exploitation licenses, and the amount of employment in mines due to exploitation licenses has decreased (compared to the same period in the previous year). However, the issuance of exploration licenses and the cost spent on exploration operations have increased.
In total, 895 exploration licenses were issued in the 10 months of 2021, which is a 14% increase compared to the 785 issued in the first 10 months of last year.
From the beginning of March to the end of December 2021, a total of 401 exploration certificates were issued, which is 5.4% less than the number of mining licenses issued in the total of 10 months of 2020. During the mentioned period in the last year, 424 exploration certificates were issued.
Also, according to the statistics of the Ministry of SAMT, by the end of December of this year, compared to the same period in the last year, the issuance of exploitation licenses has decreased a 17.5% from 515 to 425.
In addition to mining licenses, the amount of employment due to the issuance of exploitation licenses has also decreased a 13% compared to the same period in the last year. While from the beginning of March to the end of December in the previous year, 4,200 people were employed due to the issuance of mining licenses, this number reached 3,652 in the same period this year.
On the other hand, the capital spent on exploration operations during the first 10 months of this year has increased 274.4% compared to the same period in the last year and has reached 3799 billion Rials. The capital of licenses issued for mining exploration, which was equivalent to the cost spent on exploration operations, was recorded at 1,015 billion rials in the 9 months of this year.
Increase in the issuance of mining licenses in the autumn of 2021 compared to the summer
According to the announcement of the Ministry of Industry, Mining, and Trade, despite the decrease in the issuance of mining licenses in the comparison of the 10-month statistics of this year compared to the same period in the last year. In the autumn quarter of this year, 310 exploration Licenses and 126 exploration certificates were issued, which compared to the amount In the same period in the last year (264 exploration Licenses and 122 exploration certificates), they have grown 17.4% and 3.3%, respectively.
Also, the cost of exploratory operations has increased from 1600 billion Rials spent in the summer of 2021 to 1659 billion Rials in the autumn season and has increased by 3.7%.
In the third quarter of this year, 130 exploitation licenses were issued, which is 5.7% less than the 123 licenses of the summer season.