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Saudi Arabia’s investment mining fund is set to buy a stake in Pakistan’s Reko Diq project, which will be one of the world’s largest copper mines once complete, as the kingdom accelerates its expansion into the sector.
Manara Minerals plans to buy between 10-20 per cent of the $9bn complex, which is being developed by Barrick Gold, and secure an offtake agreement for future output. Copper is vital for the clean energy transition.
The mining fund would buy the equity stake from the government of Pakistan, which owns 25 per cent of the mine, for between $500mn-$1bn, according to people close to the discussions.
“This is a massive project, it will change the Pakistan economy. It’s very big,” Barrick’s chief executive Mark Bristow said in an interview in Riyadh on the sidelines of a mining summit there last week.
An investment by Saudi Arabia would be “good for the whole project because it brings a heavyweight regional partner into the mix”, he added.
It is nearing the finishing line after a high-level delegation from Pakistan last week visited Riyadh, where the country’s petroleum minister Musadik Malik told journalists he expected a deal within the next six months.
When completed it will be a big boost for Barrick Gold, which has suffered a share price slump after a dispute with the government of Mali forced it to shut down its major gold mine in the west African country.
Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest external creditors to Pakistan, which it has lavished with loan rollovers, central bank deposits and oil facilities to help service the $9.2bn of debt the south Asian country owes the Gulf kingdom.
Pakistani officials have been aggressively courting Saudi investments in recent months, as they warn their country must deliver “investable” projects because the kingdom’s appetite for financially propping it up is running thin.
Reko Diq, which is in western Balochistan near the Afghan and Iranian borders, will produce as much as 400,000 tonnes of copper and 500,000 ounces of gold once both phases of the project are complete, according to Barrick.
The southwestern province has been suffering from a brutal insurgency from Baloch ethnic separatist groups motivated in part by a backlash to foreign investors harvesting the region’s rich natural resources.
The initial phase of the mine would cost $4.5bn, and be funded by $1.5bn from Barrick, a similar but slightly lower amount from Pakistan, and the remainder from a debt consortium that would include the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and other western lenders, according to Bristow.
A second phase of the mine, estimated to cost a further $4.5bn, would be funded by the revenues generated during the first phase, Bristow said.
Some infrastructure is already being developed at the site, including an airstrip and housing for 1,000 workers, in anticipation of the mine construction beginning soon.
In Riyadh, ministers from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia said they were committed to the project.
Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry and minerals Bandar Alkhorayef confirmed Manara was considering the Reko Diq deal in an interview with the Financial Times last Tuesday and emphasised that it could help meet the kingdom’s demand for metals.
“[Manara] will be a good tool for us to ensure that Saudi Arabia secures the minerals it needs for its future industrialisation and needs,” said Alkhorayef. “It’s a platform where we can see us working with other friendly countries that look at Saudi as a reliable partner, like Pakistan.”
On Barrick’s dispute in Mali, where this month the group suspended operations at its Loulo-Gounkoto mine after the military government seized gold bars at the complex, Bristow said the company had made a proposal to the junta and was “absolutely committed to finding a solution”. He declined to discuss details.
