Iran has announced the discovery of a major gold deposit at one of the country's biggest mines for the precious metal, local media reported Monday.

The new vein structure was found at the privately owned Shadan gold mine in the eastern province of South Khorasan, which Fars news agency described as "among the country's most important".

The agency said the new reserves have been officially validated by the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Trade.

"The proven reserves of the Shadan gold mine in the east of the country have experienced a significant increase following the discovery of a vast gold vein," the report said.

It added that the vein holds some "7.95 million tonnes of oxide gold ore and 53.1 million tonnes of sulphide gold ore."

The former is usually significantly easier and cheap

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