Sustainable strategic management of Sangan iron ore mines in Iran

The Sangan Iron Ore Mine (SIOM) is one of the largest iron ore mines in Iran and one of the Middle East’s richest deposits. It contains a total geological resource of 1.2 billion tons of mostly magnetite with a Fe grade ranging from 27 to 61%. The deposit is located 300 km southeast from Mashhad, the capital of Khorasan-e-Razavi Province, and 18 km northeast of Sangan town, in Khaf County. Today SIOM is owned by the Iranian Mines and Mining Industries Development & Renovation Organization (IMIDRO). This estate owner organization intends to develop an open pit mine complex and supporting facilities and supervise development projects in SIOM for the final production of about 20 million tons per year including iron ore fine, lump, oxide concentrate and pellets in cooperation with private institutions to satisfy the growing demand of the Iranian steel industry.This study presents a development strategy for SIOM to demonstrate possible measures that ensure economic growth, prosperity of neighbouring communities and the sustainability of environment. To define the objectives of the research question, the history and current situation of Iranian mining and minerals industries with a special focus on SIOM was outlined. Additionally the implications of sustainable development were analysed on an international and national level. Sustainable development indicators were identified, and finally the advantages of sustainable mining were reviewed. To have a better idea of the case study, the status of sustainable development in SIOM was assessed with a special emphasis on social, economic, and environmental aspects. According to the results of this assessment, SIOM contributes to the development of the region by increasing the employment rate, improving the education status, decreasing the criminal activities and enhancing the transportation connections in the Khaf County. To formulate realistic sustainable strategies, the principles of strategic planning and its tools were reviewed. Besides, the ranking of Iran in sustainable development indexes was presented. Moreover, the Iranian rules and regulation and Islamic thoughts were assessed to present the approaches that affect strategy planning in Iran. To ensure the sustainability of corporate governance, external and internal stakeholders were also identified and their expectations were considered in the strategy planning process. Using the SWOT analysis, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in SIOM were recognized, the related matrix was prepared, an internal-external analysis was done and then after the decision making stage the four high-ranked strategies were suggested for future development of SIOM. Along with the research, two structured surveys were conducted among local stakeholders. The questionnaires comprised various aspects including health, education, job creation, transportation and environmental pollution. According to the results, local people were generally satisfied with the SIOM projects and its development; however they were concerned about environmental pollution and a lack of infrastructure. The results of the interviews have been anticipated as similar concerns of the stakeholder were recognized by the SWOT analysis. This shows the credibility of applied methodology in formulating sustainable strategies. The Fuzzy Delphi Methodology (FDM) was utilized to choose the applicable indicators from social, economic and environmental pillars to SIOM. Then the indicators were calculated. The results of this section enable decision makers and strategy planners to act appropriately to secure the sustainable development of the SIOM mining area. The outputs of the current study benefit not only Iran but also all countries that mainly or partly depend on the mining industry. Selecting the sustainable development indicators by FDM, tracking the progress of sustainable development realization quantitatively, identification of main stakeholders and their expectations, reviewing religious issues, legal rules and regulations and finally determining the backbones and drawbacks of the system by SWOT analysis are all measures that help to implement sustainable strategic management in SIOM and make this approach a role model for other countries - specially Islamic ones - to have comprehensive perspectives while deciding about resources exploitation