Reko Diq can be in production phase within six years: Barrick Gold

ISLAMABAD, March 22: Barrick Gold’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Mark Bristow has said that if all goes according to the plan, Reko Diq can be in production within five to six years.
Barrick Gold and the government of Pakistan recently reached agreement on a framework that provides for the reconstitution of the Reko Diq project.
Bristow in a statement hailed the agreement as an important step towards the development and operation of Reko Diq and a tribute to the decisions of all parties to work towards a mutually beneficial outcome in a spirit of partnership. “Reko Diq could also be the springboard for further exploration and other mineral discoveries along the highly prospective Tethyan Metallogenic Belt,” he added.
Earlier, the government on Sunday claimed to have saved the country from the $11 billion penalty in the Reko Diq case and reconstituted a project aimed at excavating huge gold and copper reserves from the site in Balochistan.
The federal and Balochistan governments and two international firms – Antofagasta PLC and Barrick Gold Corporation – have reached an agreement in principle on a framework to reconstitute the Reko Diq project, and a pathway for Antofagasta to exit the project.
Prime Minister Imran Khan expressed the hope that the investment would mark the beginning of large-scale investments in Balochistan that would change the quality of life of ordinary citizens in the province.
Later, in a series of tweets, PM Khan congratulated the nation, specially the people of Balochistan, on the agreement for development of the Reko Diq mine. “I congratulate the nation & ppl of Balochistan on successful agreement with Barrick Gold for development of the Reko Diq mine after 10 years of legal battles & negotiations. Penalty of approx [approximately] $11bn is offset, $10bn will be invested in Balochistan creating 8,000 new jobs,” the prime minister tweeted.
“RD [Reko Diq] 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 wrote. TLTP