ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has assured foreign investors it has the “capacity and capability” to secure the multibillion-dollar Reko Diq copper-gold mine, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti said on Monday after Canada’s Barrick Mining Corporation ordered a review of the project following deadly separatist attacks in the province last month.
The mining giant announced it would reassess all aspects of the project after coordinated Jan. 30-31 assaults by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) killed 36 civilians and 22 security personnel across multiple districts of the remote southwestern province. Pakistani authorities say 216 militants were killed in follow-up operations.
The Reko Diq mine, one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits, is a cornerstone of Pakistan’s efforts to attract foreign investment and expand mineral exports after a prolonged economic crisis. Islamabad hopes the mines will generate $70 billion in free cash flow and $90 billion in operating cash flow. The project, expected to begin production in 2028, is jointly owned by Barrick Gold and the governments of Pakistan and Balochistan.
The project’s development, however, has repeatedly been overshadowed by security concerns in Balochistan, a sparsely populated province bordering Iran and Afghanistan that has faced a decades-long insurgency in which separatist groups target security forces, infrastructure and projects linked to foreign investment. Militants accuse the state of exploiting local resources without benefiting residents, an allegation the government denies.
