TEHRAN – The secretary of Iran Coal Association has said the country holds 1.5 billion tons of definite coal reserves which is enough to meet the country’s needs for the next 500 years, IRIB reported on Saturday.

According to Saeed Samadi, Iran’s total coal reserves are estimated at 14 billion tons of which 1.5 billion tons are currently discoveries.

Samadi put the country’s current annual coal production at 4.5 million tons, noting that the coal concentrate production also stands at 1.8 million tons per year.

“Currently, the annual consumption of coal concentrate in the country is about 3.5 million tons, of which 1.8 million tons is supplied from domestic sources and the rest is imported,” he said.