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Naser Taghizadeh

IRAN - Industry

Mine On

Managing Director, Gol Gohar Mining & Industrial Company

Bio

Nasser Taghizadeh is the Managing Director & Member of the Board of Golgohar Mining & Industrial Company. Prior to that, Taghizadeh was the Managing Director of Bonab Steel Industry Complex, National Iranian Copper Industries (NICICO), and the Project Manager of Khalij e Fars Alumina Project. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Kerman University. Among his objectives, Tagizadeh aims to play an active role in the future of the Iranian industry and globalize its products.

"We are ready to develop mine projects in Afghanistan."

What are the most important milestones of Gol Gohar in the industrial and mining sectors?

There are more than 1 billion tons of iron ore to be exploited in Gol Gohar mines. We think that by exploring new areas we can increase this quantity; therefore, we are negotiating with the Ministry of Industry, Mine and Trade to extend our explorations area. We expect to produce more than 16 million tons of iron products in this Iranian year. At the moment, we are producing 5 million tons of iron plates, and in the middle of the year we will start a new 5 million ton line. At the same time, we are developing a new line of direct reduction iron (DRI) to produce 2.5 million tons. At the end of the year, we will have increased iron production by 68%. Our melt shop is also under construction and will produce one million tons of steel billets by the end of next year. Furthermore, we will finalize our contract for producing 3 million tons of thin slabs with one of the most reputable companies in the European market. We also have a power plant with a capacity of 500MW to supply energy for our factories. Last but not least, we are currently conducting one the largest projects in Iran, which consists of transferring the water from the Persian Gulf to dry areas in the south of Iran. This project is a joint venture with the National Iranian Copper Industries (NICICO) and Chadormalu Mining & Industrial Company. The first, 120km, phase of this 300km pipeline project has been completed.

Which markets are you targeting for exporting your products?

The iron concentrate main customer is China, whereas the best markets for DRI are Europe & Turkey. That is why after the lifting of sanctions we are looking for cooperation with European firms. We also have a good relationship with the Persian Gulf countries such as Oman, where we have recently opened an office. The most important project to increase our exports consists of developing a railway system to transport our products from GolGohar to Bandar Abbas port. After the visit of President Rouhani to the mines a few months ago, we signed an agreement with Railways of Iran (RAI) to start a 200km railway project between Sirjan and Kerman, which will be connecting Bandar Abbas to this area. We can proudly say we are the first private company conducting a railway project in Iran. For this purpose, we established a company that has already bought 10 locomotives. We are looking for joint ventures to finance this railway project.

Is it also part of your strategy to develop projects outside of Iran?

We are ready to develop mine projects in Afghanistan. In fact, we started negotiating with the Afghan government and held a meeting in Iran. We are studying the mines located near the borders of two countries, which is also a good area for transportation. We will visit the mines soon for further discussions. Moreover, we bought a copper mine in Kazakhstan, which is under development for producing copper now.

How do you assess your appeal to attract foreign investment into the iron ore chain?

We are eager to cooperate with foreign companies in the iron and steel production chains. The iron market globally has decreased; therefore, we have to make sure that we control everything to be profitable for our shareholder’s benefits. For this reason, we have been increasing the factories’ production and we had a successful commissioning of our last projects.

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