Description

In February 2003, President Mohammad Khatami first announced that Iran was developing a uranium mine in the Saghand region of Yazd province. Detailed exploration by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), completed in 1994, estimated a total reserve of 1.58 million tonnes of uranium ore at an average concentration of 553 parts per million (0.0533 percent uranium). By contrast, high-grade ore bodies can contain as much as 20 percent uranium.

In its Additional Protocol declarations of May 2004 to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran provided information on the location, operational status, and estimated annual production capacity of the Saghand mine, among other sites. By November 2004, the IAEA verified that the infrastructure of the Saghand mine was essentially complete, underground tunneling toward the ore bodies had begun, and ore production was expected by the end of 2006 with the goal of producing 50 tonnes of uranium per year.

With Iran ceasing to implement its Additional Protocol in February 2006, the IAEA is no longer able to carry out complementary access visits to the Saghand mine. Based on satellite imagery, the construction of buildings on site appears ongoing, but it is not possible to determine when the Saghand mine might begin to operate because mining takes place underground.

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