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An Iranian official said that a series of recent explorations have led to the identification of 1,200 promising areas to find gold.

Proven and probable gold reserves across the country have reached 340 metric tons and it is expected that following the completion of exploration projects, Iran’s gold output will hit 10 metric tons a year, Behrooz Borna, deputy director of Iran’s Geology and Mineral Exploration Organization told Trend.

Iran’s current gold output is three metric tons per year. A decade ago it was about 230 kilograms a year.

He pointed out that recent explorations in the central province of Isfahan have led to the identification of gold-rich areas.

Based on statistics from last Iranian calendar year (which ended March 20), there were 20 gold-rich areas and 24 gold mines in the country.

There are 15 active gold mines while another mine is being equipped to turn operational.

Eight mines are still non-operational because gold prices in the global market plunged to $1,100 per oz, Borna said.

It was earlier announced that Iran’s largest gold processing complex, Zarshouran is expected to increase its annual output of three metric tons by 100 percent by 2018.

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