Germany’s copper producing company Mansfelder Kupfer und Messing GmbH (MKM) signed a memorandum of understanding, worth €1 billion, to invest in a number of mineral projects including the ones in downstream copper industries in Iran.
The MOU was signed on Tuesday with the National Iranian Copper Industries Company (NICICO), according to Mohammad Esfandiar, the member of NICICO’s board of directors, the Tehran Times reported.
According to the MOU, MKM would help Iran develop its downstream industries to obtain copper from copper cathodes.
Furthermore, MKM offered to purchase an annual amount of 70,000 tons of produced copper cathodes from NICICO.
The German copper company suggested starting its purchase with procuring 10,000 tons of copper cathodes.
In October 2015, Iranian Deputy Industry, Mining, and Trade Minister Mehdi Karbasian said there is a high demand for foreign investment in Iran’s mining projects, so that many multinational companies have put in their investment requests.
Iran is believed to hold more than 7 percent of the world’s total mineral reserves. It ranks at the 10th place in terms of the variety of mineral resources. Key large deposits that still remain underdeveloped are zinc, copper, iron, uranium, and lead.
