IMPASCO managing director Ardeshir Saadmohammadi said the first phase of the mine, with a capacity of 750,000 tons of coal concentrate per year, will go on stream on August 24, and it will be the country’s first totally mechanized coal mine.

Referring to the country’s coal projects, like the Kerman Province project with an annual production capacity of 1.3 million tons, and Shahrud region project with a similar capacity, Saadmohammadi stated that within four years the country’s coal production capacity will increase by a factor three.

The Chinese ambassador to Iran, the deputy director of the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development and Renovation Organization (IMIDRO), the managing director of IMPASCO, Yazd Province’s deputy governor general, and some members of parliament attended the signing ceremony, Mehr reported.