Barrick Gold is coming back to Reko Diq To understand why we’re 30 years behind schedule we have to turn back the clock By Asadullah Kamran
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arrick Gold, one of the two companies that had previously been working on the Reko Diq project as part of a joint-venture under the name of the Tethyan Copper Company (TCC), has once again stepped into the fray and will take on the development of the project itself. Antofagasta on the other hand has decided to get out and try its luck elsewhere. As per information received by Profit, the company has opted for a monetary compensation from the profits and revenues generated by the project that has yet to commence. The exact details of the agreement have not yet been made public, it is expected to be signed soon. The TCC had originally been formed as a consortium between the Canadian based mining company Barrick Gold and Chile’s Antofagasta to work specifically on the Reko Diq project. However, as the dispute over the mining project heads towards a settlement, sources familiar with the matter have confirmed to Profit that Barrick will itself be taking on the project without Antofagasta. Although it was originally claimed that the NRL (National Resource Limited) was in the lead, Profit has confirmed from sources
NATURAL RESOURCES
within the NRL that they are currently out of the race. However, the firm stated that it will seek leases for other blocks in the Chagai district, including those near Reko Diq. The company also highlighted the potential of Afghanistan as a mineral rich area that can be an opportunity for Pakistan. Meanwhile, this also means that the Tethyan Copper Company is likely to be dissolved. The development is the latest in a long series of events that has shaped the entire Reqo Diq saga. The fifth largest gold mine in the world, the deposits are buried at the foot of an extinct volcano in Chaghai district near the Iran and Afghanistan borders. These deposits have not seen the light of day, however, because of a long-drawn out dispute between the government of Pakistan and the project’s partners, Canada’s Barrick Gold and Chile’s Antofagasta - which were working together as the now defunct TCC. With one of the world’s biggest copper and gold deposits, Reqo Diq has estimated resources of 12.3 million tonnes of copper and 20.9 million ounces of gold. A total of 14 mineralised porphyry bodies have additionally been discovered, making Reko Diq one of the world’s significant undeveloped copper prospects. Therefore the importance of such a huge
national asset can have a monumental impact on the overall economic outlook of Balochistan as well as Pakistan. The momentous development in the case can be viewed as an end to the Reko Diq saga. Barrick has gold and copper mining operations and projects in 13 countries in North and South America, Africa, Papua New Guinea and Saudi Arabia. The company has a diversified portfolio spanning many of the world’s prolific gold districts and is focused on high-margin, long-life assets.
How did we get here?
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o understand why we’re 30 years behind schedule we have to turn back the clock. The history of Reko Diq has been turbulent to say the least, since its discovery in the 90’s it has been mired in controversy. These delays can partly be attributed to the remote and rugged location of these minerals in the remote hills of Chagai wedged between the borders of Afghanistan to the North and the Iranian border to the South. The main reasons that has caused these colossal delays is a combination of facts that are nobody’s fault but our own for the most part. Firstly as is apparent and indicated by the fact that Pakistan globally has one of the
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