
SAUDI Arabia’s Manara Minerals is closing on a deal to buy up to 20% in Reko Diq, a $9bn gold project in Pakistan. The project is being developed by Barrick Gold.
The Financial Times cited Saudi Arabia’s petroleum minister Musadik Malik as saying he expected a deal within the next six months. A high level delegation from Pakistan visited Riyadh last week, the paper said.
Manara Minerals, a joint venture between Ma’aden and its 65.4% shareholder, the Public Investment Fund, would buy the equity stake from the government of Pakistan, which owns 25% of the mine, for between $500m-$1bn, said the Financial Times citing people close to the discussions.
Manara’s interest in the project was also confirmed by Saudi Arabia’s minister of industry and minerals Bandar Alkhorayef. He told the Financial Times Manara was “a good tool” for the Kingdom’s investment efforts. “It’s a platform where we can see us working with other friendly countries that look at Saudi as a reliable partner, like Pakistan,” he said.
Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest external creditors to Pakistan providing the country 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, said the Financial Times.
Reko Diq, which is in western Balochistan near the Afghan and Iranian borders, will produce as much as 400,000 tons of copper and 500,000 ounces of gold once both phases of the project are complete.
“This is a massive project, it will change the Pakistan economy. It’s very big,” Barrick CEO Mark Bristow said in an interview in Riyadh on the sidelines of a mining summit there last week.