Barrick to restart Reko Diq project in deal ending dispute with Pakistan

ISLAMABAD, March 20 (Reuters) – Barrick Gold (ABX.TO), has ended a long-running dispute with Pakistan and can now begin to develop one of many world’s largest gold and copper mining initiatives underneath an settlement signed on Sunday.

Beneath the out-of-court deal, an $11 billion penalty slapped in opposition to Pakistan by a World Financial institution arbitration courtroom and different liabilities will likely be waived and Barrick and its companions will make investments $10 billion within the undertaking, Pakistan Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin stated.

The Reko Diq undertaking in southwestern Pakistan, which hosts one of many world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits, was suspended in 2011 after Pakistan denied Barrick Gold and Chile’s Antofagasta (ANTO.L) a licence to develop it.

Barrick stated in an announcement it’s going to function the undertaking which will likely be granted a mining lease, exploration licence and floor rights.

In a separate assertion, Antofagasta stated it had agreed to exit the undertaking as its development technique was now centered on the manufacturing of copper and by-products within the Americas.

“The brand new undertaking firm shall be owned 50% by Barrick Gold. The remaining 50% shareholding shall be owned by Pakistan, divided equally between Federal Authorities and the provincial authorities of Balochista,” an announcement from the workplace of Prime Minister Imran Khan stated after the signing ceremony in Islamabad.

The Barrick-Antofagasta three way partnership found the huge mineral deposits greater than a decade in the past on the foot of an extinct volcano within the Balochistan area on Pakistan’s borders with Iran and Afghanistan.

It stated it had invested greater than $220 million.

Reporting by Asif Shahzad in Islamabad and Syed Raza Hasan in Karachi; Enhancing by David Clarke and Emelia Sithole-Matarise

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