Barrick reviews Pakistan project amid security concerns

Barrick CFO Graham Shuttleworth said during the company’s results call on Thursday that the board and management had become increasingly concerned about the security situation in the region, prompting a review of the asset.

“As you saw in the press release, the board and the management are a little concerned about the security situation on the ground in Balochistan. There has been some escalation in security events there, and our primary focus is the safety and security of our people,” Shuttleworth said.

He added that the company had informed its lending consortium that a review needed to be completed before financing could be finalised.

The project review comes as the US has listed Reko Diq under its newly launched “Project Vault” initiative, aimed at securing global supply chains for critical minerals.

Earlier this week, the US State Department announced that the Export-Import Bank of the United States (Exim) would provide up to $1.3-billion in financing for the project.

Over the past year, Exim has issued $14.8-billion in letters of interest for critical minerals projects, including investments in rare earths, lithium, cobalt, nickel and tin. Its authorised transactions include the Reko Diq funding for copper and gold production.

Development of the deposit was stalled for more than a decade following a legal dispute between the government of Pakistan and Tethyan Copper Company, then a joint venture between Barrick and Antofagasta, over mining rights. The dispute was resolved in 2022, paving the way for Barrick to re-enter the project alongside federal and provincial partners.