TEHRAN —– Ministry of Industries and Mines is expected to within the next days give its approval to Zarkuh Company’s development of Iran’s gold mine Sari Gunay, located in Iran’s western province of Kordistan, noted Abdolfattah Hesami the head of the Industries and Mines Organization of Kordistan Province.

Zarkuh Company - a joint venture of Iran Exploration Services and British Rio Tinto - has undertaken to develop the mine. It has been surveying the field for over a year and is currently waiting to receive mining permit in the field, noted the provincial official.

The project development calls for around $250 million however, some $12 million of the figure has already been spent in the exploration stage, the MNA quoted him as saying on Monday. He also noted that the foreign side’s share of the project has been set at 70 percent.

Based on recent geological works in the area, the extractable gold reserves of Sari Gunay is estimated at 14.8 tons. Also, identification of 30 other gold fields in 20 provinces across the country strongly suggests the 250-ton figure.

Since 2000, over 53,000 square meters of the Sari Gunay region has been the scene of mining exploration at the cost of $12b.