The Balochistan Gold Rush- Reko Diq( A case study). 

Gold is not old.

The European countries were the first ones to benefit from the Enlightenment and later the industrial revolution. The French Revolution and subsequently emerging France as a nation-state with a policy of approaching the world with the notion of self-interest and nationalism contributed a lot to the 20th century. Moreover, advanced nations of Europe were successful to accumulate huge wealth from their colonies from across the globe. Then it became the white man’s burden to civilize the whole world. In the meantime, it is imperative to ask that ” how Australia is so rich”? As you know Australia is a country isolated and surrounded by the Pacific and Indian Oceans. The simple answer to the Australian wealth accumulation mystery is “Gold“.

Moreover, gold is all times the driver of human civilizations. The Pharaohs of Egypt started building tombs to get somewhere eternal with their gold and wine. Notably, the Egyptian civilization ceased to exist because all the gold from its markets was buried deep under the pyramids. And there was nothing left to trade with. Burying the gold made a worst off for the Egyptian civilization but the English man also succeeded to make a better off from the Pharaohs’ wealth later on.

Tethyan Magmatic (relates to magma/volcanic activities) Arc. 

Considering brevity to be part of this writing, it would be much better to discuss the Reko Diq area of Chagai district in the province of Balochistan. Furthermore, Chagai district borders Iran on one side and on the other side it meets Afghanistan. This part of Balochistan is sparesely populated but it is enriched with copper and gold deposits. The Tethyan Magmatic arc enters Chagai from Iran. It stretches through central and South East Europe (Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Greece) and it extends into Turkey, Iran and then into Pakistan. Also, this belt goes through the Himalayan region into Myanmar, Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua new Guinea. This Magmatic arc is famously known for it mineral deposits. Fortunately, this Magmatic arc is under the feets of the most unfortunate Baloch Population. 

The Reko Diq case.

Tethyan copper company pty limited V. Islamic Republic of Pakistan. 

Back in 1993 Pakistan and Australia agreed to invest in joint ventures for mining. Under this  Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) an agreement named Chagai Hills Exploration Joint Venture Agreement (Chejva) between an Australian company BHP Billiton and the government of Balochistan was agreed upon. Subsequently, 75 percent of the interest was given to BHP Billiton and 25 percent of the interest was given to the Balochistan government with an annual royalty of an additional 2 percent. In April 2000, BHP Billiton handed over its obligations to Mincor Resources which was not broadly known. Above all, in 2006 TCC acquired all the shares of Mincor Resources. TCC was a consortium of two international mining companies, a Chilean company Antofagasta and Barrick Gold. All the legal rights to mine at the Riko Diq were officially transferred to TCC, but its legality challenged by the government of Balochistan in 2006. It should be noted that the Balochistan High Court dismissed all the allegations of Balochistan government. 

 In February 2011, TCC applied for a mining lease from the Balochistan government but it was rejected. Thus, in November 2011 the Supreme court of Pakistan declared that the mining in Reko Diq was not legitimate. Perceiving its damages TCC approached the World Bank Group’s of International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes(ICSID). It was deliberately discussed that the TCC was going to invest some 3.3 Billion dollars on the Reko Diq fieds. And it was debated that some 220$  million were already invested. The TCC was claiming damages of 11.47$ billion but the ICSID after calculating the future profits and all the time and investment of TCC fined Pakistan 5.97$ billion. In July 2019 ICSID fined Pakistan under the breach of Fair and equitable treatment (FET) and unlawful expropriation by the Pakistani government authority. 

As well as that, in November 2020 TCC approached the High Court of justice in the British Virgin Islands to materialise the damages. The British Virgin Islands court’s ordered the attachment of Pakistan’s owned businesses abroad. Famously known Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan New York and Sribe hotel in Paris are some foreign investments of Pakistan Air lines. Upon following the orders the investments were freezed. In the month of December 2020, Pakistan reached the TCC for an out-of-court settlement. As it is a well known fact that paying the humangous sum of nearly 6 $ billion means given a large chunk of Pakistan’s GDP. The out of court negotiations took a couple of years to reach a final agreement. In March 2022, The Chilean based Antofagasta withdrew from the venture. Pakistan and Barrick Gold reached upon an agreement of 50 percent of interest shall be held by Barrick Gold and the other 50 percent shall be divided equally between the center and the Government of Balochistan. All the population in the vicinity of Reko Diq be given proper treatment for the provision of jobs. All the smelting and refining should take place in Pakistan from now on. 

In conclusion, all the strategic management, security, and all kinds of mining permissions and other managerial work was done by BDA(Balochistan Development Authority) which is accused of corruption and mismanagement. The Reko Diq case expenditure surpassed a total of 8 billion Pakistan rupees. Apart from this, Cherie Blair the wife of well faved British Prime minister Tony Blair was representing Pakistan, but this fact doesn’t bothered the verdict of the courts. It is estimated that 5.9 billion tons of deposits can be treated to attain a copper grade of 0.41 percent and a gold grade of 0.22g/ton.

Some estimates say that 3 trillion dollars can be made from the Reko Diq gold-copper deposits. In a nutshell, nature has blessed our country in every possible way, but the nation is yet to utilize them in a civilized manner.