Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold Corp. says it’s pushing ahead with plans to develop a massive copper and gold deposit in western Pakistan despite comments this weekend from the region’s top government official that the Toronto-based company will be shut out of the project.
And the Canadian government, which has previously expressed concerns over Pakistan’s handling of the planned Reko Diq mine, told Canwest News Service on Sunday that Canada “expects that all parties will honour their contractual agreements with Canadian companies.”
The proposed mine, located in a narrow wedge of Western Pakistan between Afghanistan and Iran, has emerged as a priority initiative for both Toronto-based Barrick — the world’s largest gold producer — and for Canada’s international trade ministry, which has been pressing Pakistani officials in recent weeks to fulfil their obligations under a 2006 Pakistani-Canadian-Chilean agreement potentially worth billions of dollars.
But the Financial Times newspaper reported Saturday that Nawab Muhammad Aslam Khan Raisani — chief minister of Baluchistan province, where the Reko Diq deposit is located — has ruled out further foreign involvement in the precious-metal bonanza.
"We will not extend any further contracts either to the existing companies or to anyone else,” Raisani told the British newspaper. "They (Barrick and the Chilean firm Antofagasta) only have an exploration licence, which does not cover extraction."
On Sunday, spokesman Richard Walker with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade told Canwest News Service: “We are aware of the news report regarding Barrick Gold’s operations in Pakistan” and that “our officials are in the process of gathering more information from the parties involved.”
He also voiced Canada’s warning that Pakistan and the other partners in the project should “honour their contractual agreements” with Barrick.
Recent news reports have indicated that China — which has made major investments in Pakistan — was exerting pressure on local authorities to curb other countries’ economic activity in the region.
