Over View of Stone Industry in Iran
Our ancient country, Iran, enjoys not only the remarkable reserves of Oil, Gas and different minerals but also the tremendous deposits of dimensional stones, some unique in the world. The application of stone in Iranian architecture has a 3000 year old history and the existence of historical monuments such as Persepolis, Bistoon and Naqsh-e-Rustam with their marvelous gates, pillars and stairways are the astonishing examples of stone application in the ancient times.
At the present time the average amount of 9 million metric tons is being extracted annually from more than 500 active quarries which resources are unbelievable in rarity and unimaginable in variety. On the other hand there are about 5000 plants engaged in processing stone and producing slabs, tiles, …. Although there are still factories lacking modern machinery but stone processing made remarkable improvement in 1999's through application of modern technology.
The establishment of modern stone processing plants especially next to quarries holding the biggest deposits (such as Nayriz and Azarshahr) is one of the effective actions taken during these years.
The total production capacity of stone plants is a about 52 million square maters which is basically used to satisfy domestic demands. But application of modern technology has resulted in production of standard slabs and tiles which are presented to the international markets. It should be denoted that the replacement of outdated and worn out machinery is now regarded as one of the main policies adopted to improve Iranian stone Industry.

Dimensional stones of Iran
Travertine: Travertine, a sedimentary stone, has huge reserves in Iran. Iranian Travertine with its unique texture and attractive color & design is in great demand in the advanced markets of Europe and U.S.A.
Regarding some rare types of Iranian Travertine the best example is Azarshahr Travertine appearing in red, light yellow and light brown that is known as a Luxurious expensive stone. Also the white and Beige Travertine from quarries in Mahallat (century part of Iran) are among the best choices for dimensional stone exportation.
Marble: In terms of resources and diversity of design, color and texture Iranian marble is a privilege to exportation of our Dimensional stones. Some Iranian exclusive marbles such as Dehbid Beige and Bejestan Rose are unique I terms of firmness, processing flexibilities and elegance of color and pattern.
Onyx Marbel: Ranging from green to yellow and white, Onyx Marble has reparable resources in different parts of Iran. The diversity of Onyx Marble colors has made it as a profiting and unrivaled business in international markets.
Granite: Iran is traditionally known for its Marble and Travertine particularly divers Onyx Marble, but in the past ten years the tremendous resources of high quality Granites have been disvorered and exploited.
Because of its hardness and durability, Granite is mainly used in exterior spaces. Iranian Granites appear in variety of colors such as red, black, dark green, white and pink with large and small granulation.

Level of production in Quarries (Metric ton)

Developments and progresses
In recent years, the Iranian stone Industry has remarkable developed in different aspects.
Quarries
The application of explosives was definitely prohibited and banned in quarries.
New extraction plans have been provided based on the modern techniques.
Quarries have been equipped with modern machinery and equipment.
Special courses have been organized for those engaged in quarrying activities in Iran and other countries with the purpose of introducting modern extraction of Italian companies has been realy valuable and different groups of Iranian managers and technicians have been dispatched to quarries of Carrara so far.
Number of active Quarries

Stone processing plants
The stone processing industry in Iran has improved due to the establishment of some modern plants utilizing the most modern technology and machinery mostly from Italy. There has also been enormous efforts to encourage investments for replacement of the outdated and worn out machinery and production lines by some modern ones.
Number of employments
As mentioned before, there are more that 500 active quarries in Iran which employees are estimated then 12.000. Presently the number of stone processing plans has risen up to about 5000 where 75.000 are working. In addition to quarries and factories there are many companies engaged in domestic and feting and trade, also manufacturing machinery and equipments for stone industry. Therefore the total number of employments in Iranian stone Industry can be estimated to 90.000 which show the extension of our stone industry and reveals its significant role in our economy.

Number of employments in Quarries

Domestic market
There is very demanding domestic market for dimensional stones in Iran. Inspired from ancient stone art traditions, Iranian architects try to combine tradition, innovation and modernity with the most application of natural stone. Natural stone, in different colors and types, is widely used in the façade of buildings, exterior space, covering and stairways. The application of stone in the domestic construction projects is so excessive that the great percentage of produced stone is used to satisfy domestic demands.
Potential investments
There is a groundwork for potential investments in both quarries and processing sectors of Iranian Stone Industry. Considering the taol number of quarries (about 500) and stone processing plants (about 5000) the amount of potential investment is estimated about 2.300.000.000$.
Short term prospects
The amount of production from quarries has been continually inversed during the last deaden. This attitude will be definitely adopted for the next years. Along with the considerable growth in quality and quantity of quarries' productions, it seems necessary to establish the modern processing plants or to modernize the old ones. It can be expected that each years about 100 stone factories plan to modernize their factories. In this case, approximately the amount of 200.000.000$ should be allocated for this process that is 9-10% of potential investment. Founded in September 2000, Stone Association of Iran, enjoys the up port of many accredited companies and individuals involved in quarrying processing and exportation of Dimensional Stones. The Association tries to encourage export – oriented approaches in al sectors of stone industry.

Cooperation with foreign companies and professionals
Iranian stone Industry declares its readiness for foreign investments as well as technical collaboration at the international level. In this regard a Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between Iranian small scale industries organization (Ministry of Industries and Mines) and Internanazionale Marmi e Machine Carrara S.P.A (IMM) that include different items such as organization of technical course and seminars, establishment of a training center for Iranian managers and worker, encouraging the Italian companies to create Joint-venture with Iranian companies.