Pakistan has reached an out-of-court deal with a foreign firm that has agreed to waive $11-billion in penalties and revive a mining project stalled since 2011, officials said. The consortium Tethyan Copper company of which Canadian gold firm Barrick and Chile’s Antofagasta Minerals control 37.5 percent each had found vast gold and copper deposits at Reko Diq in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
The hugely lucrative open-pit mine project came to a standstill in 2011 after the local government refused to renew Tethyan Copper’s lease, and in 2013 Pakistan’s top court declared it invalid.
In 2019, the World Bank’s arbitration tribunal committee imposed a 5.8 billion penalty on Pakistan for unlawful denial of mining. After a decade-long legal battle, Pakistani officials announced the out-of-court settlement with Barrick Gold on Sunday.
“The agreement has nullified the award of around $11-billion on us and secondly Barrick and its partners will invest $10-billion,” Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said during a press conference.
It will benefit Pakistan and Balochistan for the next 100 years,” he added.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said the project “will potentially be the largest gold & copper mine in the world”. It will liberate us from crippling debt & usher in a new era of development & prosperity,” he said in a statement.
Source: eNCA
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