Islamabad: The federal and Balochistan governments signed an agreement with Canadian firm Barrick Gold to resume mining operations at the Reko Diq Copper Mine site in Balochistan, news sources reported on December 16.
The agreement will become effective from December 16 and the company is expected to start work immediately. A USD 6.5 billion fine that was imposed by an international court on the company has now become ineffective. Following the agreement, the Barrick Gold form will get 50% of the proceeds from the mining site while the three state-owned enterprises will get 25%, and the remaining 25% will be distributed between Balochistan with a 15% share and the federal government with a 10% share. The share will be distributed among the partners and shareholders on a fully funded and free-carried basis.
It is important to mention here that Reko Diq, one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold projects in the world, is jointly owned by Barrick, three federal state-owned enterprises, and the Balochistan government. Recently, after long proceedings in the Supreme Court, the agreement between the government and Barrick Gold was declared legal.
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