Iran’s first Monazite production factory opened near Tehran
Iran’s Minister of Industry, Mining, and Trade Mohammad Atabak inaugurated for the first time on Saturday a factory producing monazite, a reddish-brown phosphate mineral that contains rare-earth elements widely used in cutting-edge technologies.
Praising the achievement at the opening ceremony of the factory at Abbas Abad Industrial Town on the outskirts of Tehran, Atabak said, “A few countries have succeeded in producing rare earth elements, and for this reason, this event is of great significance in our country.”
The minister expressed hope that with the activation of such factories, the country’s achievement of “high-tech” industries with advanced technology would continue at a faster pace.
Pointing to the processing of rare earth elements as a fundamental measure for the development of advanced industries, Atabak said, “We hope that with the efforts of experts, the scope of production and the activation of project-based programs will expand to meet the goals of comprehensive upstream documents.”
Morteza Ali-Akbari, a mining stakeholder, stated at the event, “This success is due to the around-the-clock efforts of the specialized and elite staff of this company, who have managed, through their diligence, to place Iran among the advanced countries in the field of extraction and processing of rare earth elements.”
Regarding the Ministry of Industry, Mining and Trade’s perspective following the visit to Iran’s first rare earth elements factory, he said, “The minister’s perspective was very positive and he called for development in this sector.”
Ali-Akbari stressed that, “We have been able to manufacture, install, and launch 100% of the equipment, some of which have been made for the first time in Iran and are being utilized. This equipment has been designed and built with the knowledge and expertise of our colleagues and in collaboration with a private company.”
He added, “We practically witnessed two inaugurations; the inauguration of the set of machinery and equipment that had been made and installed, and the inauguration of the extraction and processing line for the monazite concentrate of rare earth elements and the production of oxides of these elements, which was achieved through the extraordinary efforts of our specialists.”
Ali-Akbari said this facility can be used as a research laboratory and semi-industrial center for testing and processing about 90% of the country’s major minerals, which “will significantly accelerate our work so that within the next 2 to 3 months, by adding complementary equipment, we will reach the final capacity of this line.”
Monazite has a wide range of applications, from agriculture, medicine and aerospace to steel production and the manufacturing of electronic chips and electric generators.