Mining firms plan to invest $3bn in Balochistan
A foreign joint-venture company plans to invest up to $3 billion in Pakistan in a copper and gold mine, the chief executive of the company said on Tuesday.
Tethyan Copper Co Ltd, a joint venture between Canada’s Barrick Gold and Chile’s Antofagasta Plc, one of the world’s largest copper miners, has been granted an exploration licence for the Reko Diq site in Balochistan.
Ore reserves at the site, a mixture of minerals, are estimated at 4 billion tons, of which 0.5 per cent is expected to be copper with 0.29 gram of gold per ton of ore, Tethyan chief executive Cassie Boggs told Reuters in an interview.
'We think the investment is probably going to be between $2.5 and $3 billion,' Boggs said by telephone.
Pakistan’s foreign direct investment for the first 11 months of the 2008-09 fiscal year was $3.32 billion.
Tethyan is working on a feasibility study, which is expected to be completed by early next year. The aim of the project is to exploit both copper and gold deposits, Boggs said.
Tethyan has a 75 per cent interest while the Balochistan government holds the remaining 25 per cent.
The project is expected to create up to 9,000 jobs in the construction phase, which will last for about three years, and then employ up to 3,000 people once the mine is operational.
'Initially, we will need to probably bring in people from the outside with certain mining expertise,' said Boggs. 'But certainly, the plan is to train and develop the local workforce.'
Many investors are hesitant to invest in Pakistan because of security worries.
'Here in Pakistan, all the current events make security a concern but we actually believe security is manageable.' Boggs said the company would continue to weigh the benefits against the risks but felt the project had a lot of potential for its investors and for Pakistan. —Reuters
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