Reko dik mine
what is being described as a breakthrough, Barrick Gold Corp has agreed to restart the suspended Reko Diq mine project in Balochistan’s Chaghi district, following a settlement with Pakistan on the framework to reconstitute the agreement after 10 years of legal battles and negotiations. The reconstituted agreement allows the Canadian company’s Chilean partner, Antofagasta Plc, to exit the project by withdrawing from its claim of $3.9bn in place of a payment of $900m. The two companies have won an award of around $11bn from an international arbitration court against Pakistan’s decision denying their joint venture a licence to develop Reko Diq. The government claims that the agreement will help it avoid the penalty, besides bringing in an investment of $10bn and creating 8,000 new jobs in the province. Under the new arrangement, Barrick gets half the project while Balochistan and federal state-owned firms will each hold 25pc of the remaining half. Barrick will get a mining lease, an...