Pakistan in mining project talks with Saudi companies

• Proposed digs in Pakistan
• Deal with Manara fell through last year
• Future Minerals Forum in Riyadh this week

Pakistan plans to announce a number of joint mining ventures with Saudi Arabia in April after negotiations for a high-profile equity sale fell through last year.

An official at the Frontier Works Organization, the engineering arm of the Pakistan Army involved with the country’s mining operations, said that talks are ongoing for a number of initiatives in Pakistan with Saudi mining companies, including the Saudi Geological Survey, which oversees geological mapping in Saudi Arabia.

The deals being discussed include exploratory digs for copper, zinc, gold and chromite along with other minerals, said Muhammad Imran Akhtar, deputy director at Frontier Works.

“These are the projects we’re pitching,” he said. “Hopefully we will make a breakthrough soon.”

Akhtar said that they hope to announce these ventures in April at the upcoming Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum in Islamabad.

Last year discussions between Manara, a Saudi listed mining company backed by the kingdom’s $930 billion Public Investment Fund, and Pakistan over Manara acquiring a stake in the Reko Diq copper and gold mine in southwestern Pakistan proved unsuccessful. 

Manara had been seeking a 10-20 percent stake in the mine, which is currently 50 percent owned by the Canadian mining company Barrick Gold with the remainder held by national and regional Pakistani government entities.

Akhtar says that the proposed deal with Manara is now “on hold” due to Pakistan not wanting to sell down its stake in the mine. Barrick Gold has said that the first phase of the mine’s development requires $6.6 billion of investment. Akhtar said that Pakistan is seeking other forms of financing from international lenders but wants to avoid selling equity in the mine.

Further reading:

• Frank Kane: Riyadh becomes the cockpit of the global minerals race
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Akhtar was speaking on the sidelines of the Future Minerals Forum, a four-day annual mining conference held in Riyadh. 

Saudi Arabia wants to make mining the “third pillar of the national economy”, according to its Vision 2030 development plan. It hopes to increase the contribution of mining to GDP from $17 billion in 2019 to $75 billion in 2030.

Akhtar said that Frontier Work Organization has no immediate plans to invest in Saudi Arabia.