The federal cabinet has approved the sale of a 15% stake in the Reko Diq copper-gold mining project to Saudi Arabia for $540 million (approximately Rs. 150.27 billion). The transaction, which will be conducted under the Inter-Governmental Commercial Transactions Act, will be completed in two phases.
In the first phase, Saudi Arabia will acquire a 10% stake in the project for $330 million, while the remaining 5% will be purchased in the second phase for $210 million. The deal underscores growing economic cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia in the mining and resource development sectors.
Additionally, the Saudi Fund for Development has pledged $150 million to support mineral resource development in Balochistan. This funding will be accompanied by further investments in mineral exploration in the Chagai district, where Reko Diq is located.
Reko Diq is one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold mines, with estimated reserves of 5.9 billion tons of ore containing 0.41% copper and 41.5 million ounces of gold. The project, which has a mining life of at least 40 years, is jointly owned by Barrick Gold (50%) and the federal and Balochistan governments (50%).
