On March 20, Barrick Gold and Antofagasta announced that they had reached a framework agreement with the governments of Pakistan and Baluchistan province to restart the Reko Diq (RD) project. The project, one of the world's largest undeveloped open-pit porphyry copper-gold deposits, was suspended in 2011 amid a dispute over the legality of the permit process.
RD-projektet, beläget i Chaghi-distriktet i Baluchistan-provinsen, har cirka 12 miljoner ton koppar och 650 ton (20,9 Moz) guldresurser, som tidigare ägdes av Tethyan Copper Company Pty Limited (TCC), ett samriskföretag mellan Barrick och Antofagasta.
TCC's 1998 agreement with the Baluchistan government gave it the right to a mining lease, but only under the government's usual requirements. After TCC invested 220m in exploration, The project stalled after Pakistan refused to grant a mining permit in 2011, citing "opaque access methods". TCC subsequently initiated international arbitration with the World Bank's Center for International Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and won the case in July 2019 with a compensation award of us 5.97 billion (38 billion yuan). The figure is equivalent to 2 percent of Pakistan's GDP, and Pakistan continues to pursue legal action without paying.
Avtalet stipulerar att det omstrukturerade projektet kommer att ägas till 50 procent av Barrick och till 50 procent av pakistanska intressenter, inklusive:
Balochistans regering har en andel på 10 procent;
Ett specialföretag som ägs av regeringen i Balochistan har en andel på 15 procent;
Andra pakistanska statsägda-företag äger 25 procent.
Another agreement stipulates that Antofagasta will not participate in the restructured project because the RD project does not support the company's growth strategy, which focuses on copper and by-product production in the Americas, particularly Chile, Peru, the US and Canada. The two sides have agreed to work together this year to finalize and ratify the final agreement. Antofagasta will exit its equity interest in TCC if the agreement is executed and the following conditions are met:
RD-projektet kommer att omstruktureras av TCC, och TCC:s ICSID-beslut kommer att lösas;
A consortium of Pakistani state-owned companies will acquire a stake in TCC's subsidiary, which will hold the project, for a consideration of about 900 million;
Intäkterna delas ut till Antofagasta.
Barrick kommer att vara operatör för projektet, som kommer att få gruvuthyrning, prospekteringslicenser, yträttigheter och mineralavtal för att stabilisera den finansiella ordningen som är tillämplig på projektet under en specificerad period. Processen att slutföra och godkänna det slutliga avtalet, inklusive stabilisering av den finansiella regimen enligt gruvavtalet, kommer att vara helt transparent och involvera de federala och provinsregeringarna samt Pakistans högsta domstol. Om det definitiva avtalet verkställs och villkoren för slutförande är uppfyllda, kommer projektet att omstruktureras, inklusive reglering av skadestånd som utdömts av ICSID. Mark Bristow, President och CHIEF Executive Officer för Barrick, hyllade avtalet som ett viktigt steg framåt i utvecklingen och driften av RD-programmet och som en hyllning till alla parters beslut att arbeta i en anda av samarbete för att uppnå ömsesidigt fördelaktiga resultat ;
"Barrick has successfully worked with host countries around the world and our philosophy of equitable sharing of the economic benefits generated by the mine with our core stakeholders is also evident in the ownership structure of the new RD. This is a unique opportunity for substantial foreign investment in Baluchistan that will bring enormous direct and indirect benefits not only to the region but also to Pakistan for decades to come. In addition to local employment and skills development, local procurement, infrastructure upgrades and improved health and education systems, RD can serve as a springboard for further exploration and other mineral discoveries along the highly promising Tethys metallogenic belt."
Upon completion of the transaction, Barrick will commence a comprehensive update of the project's feasibility study in 2010 and pre-feasibility study for expansion in 2011, which envisages the production of high-quality copper and gold concentrate using conventional truck and forklift open-pit mining operations with crushing and flotation processing facilities. If all goes according to plan, RD could be in production within five to six years, Mr Bristow said.
