Following the new agreement on Rekodak, the largest copper and gold project in Balochistan province, a spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Finance said that Barrack Gold officials had visited the site in Chaghi and work was expected to begin there soon.
Muzammil Aslam told the news channel that Barrack Gold officials made the visit to Islamabad after signing an agreement on the project.
In Pakistan, both the federal and Balochistan governments have hailed the agreement as a significant development. Prime Minister Imran Khan has said that this will be of great help to Pakistan while the cabinet of Balochistan has been informed that it will give 25% share to the province without any investment.
It may be recalled that in a press conference on Sunday, Pakistan's Finance Minister Shaukat Tareen said that the Canadian company Barrack Gold Corporation has decided to invest 10 10 billion in addition to paying 11 11 billion in fines. The project has been stalled for several years in the Chaghi district bordering Iran and Afghanistan due to the conflict.
Why is Rekodak's new agreement a 'bailout' for Pakistan and Balochistan?
Referring to Rekodak, Prime Minister Imran Khan said in a tweet that "Rekodak will be the largest gold and copper mine in the world in terms of its potential. It will free us from the shackles of debt and we will enter a new era of progress and prosperity.
According to Imran Khan, the new project will cover about 11 11 billion in fines, invest 10 10 billion in Balochistan and create 8,000 new jobs.
Muzammil Aslam, a spokesman for the finance ministry, said the agreement was a "bailout" for Pakistan in many ways. According to him, due to this agreement, Pakistan will not have to pay the amount of fine which was imposed on Pakistan through the International Arbitration Forum XD.
He says that Pakistan is not in a position to repay this huge amount financially. If the fines were not paid, the assets in Pakistan's foreign countries would be confiscated and auctioned off, and the money would be given to the companies that are partners in Thietian Copper Company (TCC). Were.
He says Pakistan had to pay چھ 6 billion in fines and other charges, bringing the total to about ارب 11 billion.
He said the government negotiated better and brought the amount to سو 900 million, which would have to be paid to a company that was not willing to work again. The other partner in the TCC, apart from Barclays Gold, was Chile's Antafgosta, which is unwilling to work on Recodic again. Muzammil Aslam said that even this amount of nine hundred million dollars would not have to be paid to the government but this amount would be paid by the company willing to work on Rekodak and it would give up its share of the fine.
He said that while the country had avoided paying hefty fines, the second benefit of the agreement was that it would result in the company investing ارب 10 billion, the largest single foreign investment in the country's history.
Whose share in the Recodic project?
Muzammil Aslam says that Balochistan will get 25% share in this project and it will create 8000 new jobs there.
On the occasion of signing the agreement in the federal capital Islamabad, the head of Barrack Gold, Mark Bristow, said that if everything goes according to plan, production from Rekodak will start in five to six years.
Under the new agreement, 50 per cent of the project will be owned by Canadian company Barrack Gold, while the remaining 50 per cent will be shared equally between the federal government and Balochistan.
The 25 per cent share of the federal government will be equally divided between the three state-owned enterprises that will invest in it. These include Oil and Development Corporation (OGDC), Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) and Government Holdings Pakistan Limited.
According to officials, out of the remaining 25%, 10% will belong to the government of Balochistan without any shareholder. And 15% will belong to the Balochistan government company. According to a statement, the cabinet of Balochistan has been informed that by combining royalty and taxes, Balochistan will get more than 33% economic benefit from it.
Is Rekodak's new contract better or even more objectionable?
Former Balochistan Finance Secretary Mahfooz Ali Khan says the new agreement will be "many times more beneficial" than the federal government's previous agreement on Rekodak.
He said that after this there would be more agreements including mining and shareholding agreements for which Balochistan would have to play an active role and there would be a strong team of experts for these agreements.
According to him, future agreements will be with one of the largest companies in the world, so the team from Balochistan will include experts in corporate law, corporate finance and mining, etc., so that the interests of Balochistan can be better protected.
He said that if the Balochistan government needs the services of international experts for this purpose, it should not shy away from it.
However, apart from some constitutional and legal experts, some nationalist parties do not consider the agreement reached with Barrack Gold to be in the interest of Balochistan.
The former Advocate General of Balochistan has expressed reservations over the new agreement, calling it a "clean-up step" on Balochistan's capital.
Amanullah Kanrani's advocate claims that Prime Minister Imran Khan has exaggerated the amount of the fine to 11 11 billion even though it was "five and a half billion dollars". He said that under international law, the actual amount of the fine could be determined by the local high court.
He says that in the case of Rekodak, the Supreme Court had annulled all the foreign agreements in July 2013, but now another agreement has been reached to sacrifice the 300-year-old mineral wealth of Balochistan which is more valuable than gold. The offering was made.
According to the former Advocate General, Rekodak is currently valued at US ہزار 1,000 billion and has a range of 600 km and a capacity of 300 years of productive use.
Amanullah Kanrani says that it is better to save this national wealth for future generations or give it to a company which will set up a refinery in Chaghi district so that we can estimate before our eyes that the amount of our wealth. And what is the price?
Meanwhile, the Balochistan National Party has termed the agreement as unconstitutional with reference to Rekodak and said that when a no-confidence motion has been filed against the Prime Minister, they do not have the right to make such agreements.
A statement from the party said that its right to the resources of Balochistan is more than 50% and an agreement less than that is not acceptable and the party has the right to take legal action in this regard.
According to the statement, it is necessary to set up a refinery in Chaghi so that it can be known how many resources are being extracted from there.
Meanwhile, the National Party has also termed the Rekodak Copper and Gold project agreement as an occupation of the national resources of the people of Balochistan.
The party said in a statement that the people of Balochistan and the National Party reject the Rekodak Copper and Gold project agreement outright.
Similarly, the Baloch National Movement has also rejected the agreement, saying that the Baloch will not accept the deal of national resources on Baloch soil.
Party Chairman Khalil Baloch said that any deal of any country or company would be illegal and immoral without the will and intention of the Baloch nation.
Why is the copper and gold project controversial in Rekodak?
Rekodak is located in Chaghi district of Balochistan and according to some reports, Rekodak is one of the largest copper and gold deposits in Pakistan and one of the largest reserves in the world.
Near Rekodak is Sendak, where a Chinese company has been working on copper and gold deposits for more than a decade. Geologists call Chaghi a 'show case' of minerals due to the discovery of a large number of other minerals in Chaghi along with other deposits of copper and gold.
The mineral deposits in Chaghi district of Balochistan are claimed to be one of the largest copper and gold mines in the world which have not been fully commissioned till date.
The Pakistani government launched the Recodic project 28 years ago to search for these reserves, but instead of benefiting the country, it fined it not only six billion dollars, but also two international arbitration bodies for settling investment disputes. There have been significant costs involved in litigation.
Last year, an international arbitration tribunal fined Pakistan nearly ً 6 billion in a multi-million dollar gold and copper Rekodak project in Balochistan province.
According to an article by former Balochistan Finance Secretary Mahfooz Ali Khan, the Balochistan government entered into an agreement with Brookin Hills Properties Minerals, a US company, in 1993 to use its mineral resources for Rekodak.
The agreement was signed with Balochistan Development as a joint venture with an American company.
Under the agreement, known as the Chaghi Hills Exploration, the Balochistan government was to receive 25% of the profits. Under the concessions available in the terms of the agreement, BHP had set up a sister company called Mankor and transferred its shares to it.
Mancourus later sold its shares to an Australian company, Thietian Cooper Company (TCC).
The new company continued its exploration work in the area, during which it was discovered that Rekodak's reserves were economically viable. A consortium of two Canadian and Chilean companies later bought all of TCC's shares.
There were reservations in some political circles of Balochistan regarding Rekodak. The opinion expressed by these circles was that the interests of the people of Balochistan were not taken into consideration in the Rekodak agreement.
The agreement was first challenged in the Balochistan High Court but the High Court dismissed the case and later appealed to the Supreme Court against the High Court's decision.
A bench headed by former Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry annulled the agreement reached with the TCC for violating the rules.
Following the Supreme Court's decision, the TCC again approached the Balochistan government for a mining license.
The then Balochistan government had stipulated for the issuance of the license that the company would not take the minerals extracted from here abroad for refining.
The government laid down the condition of refinery in Chaghi as well as expansion of Balochistan.
As there was no significant benefit from the Sendak project, these conditions were laid down by the Balochistan government for the maximum benefit of Balochistan.
In November 2011, the Mining Licensing Authority refused to grant mining license to TCC due to lack of progress on the part of the company in complying with these conditions and non-compliance with the requirements of Balochistan Mining Rules 2002. Was
The TCC had filed an appeal against the decision with the Secretary Mines and Minerals, Government of Balochistan, which was rejected by the Secretary.
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