Pakistan Reko Diq Deal

Pakistan has established a high-level negotiation committee to finalise the terms, valuation, and draft a commercial agreement for the sale of a 15% stake in the Reko Diq copper and gold mining project to Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).

Saudi Arabia has proposed acquiring the stake in two tranches: a 10% payment upon signing the deal and an additional 5% at the final investment decision. The project’s ownership is currently split between Barrick Gold (50%) and the federal and Balochistan governments, which jointly hold the remaining 50%.Barrick Gold and PMPL are concurrently working to secure $3 billion in debt financing for the $5.8 billion project. Multiple global financial institutions, including the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, Asian Development Bank, and Islamic Development Bank, have expressed interest in financing, with additional offers anticipated from countries like Canada, Japan, and South Korea.