At long last, the Supreme Court of Pakistan in its historical verdict pronounced last week has settled the controversy surrounding the Reko Deq gold mining project once for all, which in all earnestness is predicted to bring about a transformative change to the resource rich but strikingly under-developed Balochistan province. The Reko Deq gold mining project has been at the center of much controversy since their discovery and involved international arbitration that appeared to have hurt Pakistan\u2019s interests. The exploration between 1993 and 1997 marked 14 potential sites containing 48 pockets for excavation, collectively called the Reko Deq complex.
\nDespite the fact that the nature has generously endowed the Balochistan province with mineral deposits, which have become a resource curse for the province and its people who are lagging far behind other parts of the country in terms of social and physical development, which is directly related to the casual attitude on part of both the provincial and central governments. And, this lack of commitment has turned the huge mineral wealth over the years into a potential resource curse for the people. A point to this case is the natural gas, which, though explored in Balochistan, has yet to be supplied to the entire province, creating difficulties for the provincial government to meet the day-to-day demand of its people.
\nLike the poverty-stricken Sui district, which is rich in natural gas deposits, Balochistan\u2019s Chagai district, where the little but dusty towns of Reko Deq and Saindak are located, is famous for its gold and copper deposits, but the people and the province as a whole are yet to reap any benefits of the natural resources. After the controversy surrounding the gold mining project was resolved by the Supreme Court, it is hoped that in addition to economic benefits, the project is expected to create more jobs and will also promote the growth of a regional economy by investing in development schemes.
\nA final deal on the gold mining, signed with Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold and its Chilean partner Antofagasta, will revive the project and resolve the dispute, which has negatively impacted Pakistan\u2019s standing as an investment-friendly nation. Geological observations and feasibilities conducted by Pakistan reveal that Chagai district, where the Reko Deq mines located, is part of a belt called the Tethyan Magmatic Arc, which extends thousands of kilometres from Europe into Mongolia. The arc is a known reservoir for rare metals, and Pakistan\u2019s share lies underneath the region between Chagai and North Waziristan. Current estimates, which are considered quite conservative, say Reko Deq\u2019s revenues should be $240-$260bn over a 40-year period. Pakistan\u2019s share of this would potentially add nearly $1.5bn to national GDP. The deal, which has been reconstituted on the apex court\u2019s intervention and which mandated the Balochistan government to hold a 25 per cent stake in the project under the new pact, the rest of the 25 per cent shareholding is controlled equally (8.33pc) by the three state-owned enterprises. The Project Scope postulates that the Reko Deq is expected to have a life of at least 40 years comprised of producing a high quality copper-gold concentrates. As Pakistan has finally struck the deal, the government has successfully managed to remove all suspicions dogging the project. Now, it is poised to alleviate the country\u2019s economic woes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At long last, the Supreme Court of Pakistan in its historical verdict pronounced last week has settled the controversy surrounding the Reko Deq gold mining project once for all, which in all earnestness is predicted to bring about a transformative change to the resource rich but strikingly under-developed Balochistan province. The Reko Deq gold mining […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[11884],"class_list":{"0":"post-302472","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-editorial","7":"tag-resource-curse"},"yoast_head":"\n