Barrick Mining seeks $3.5bn from US, other lenders for Reko Diq project
KARACHI: Barrick Mining is seeking to raise up to $3.5 billion in financing from the US and other international lenders to build a giant copper mine in Pakistan after long-discussed funding from Saudi Arabia failed to materialise.
Chief executive Mark Bristow said the company was working on a “G7-country financing package” for the project in Balochistan province, the Financial Times reported.This would involve the World Bank’s International Finance Corp, the US government’s Export-Import Bank and Development Finance Corporation, the Asian Development Bank and lenders in Germany, Canada and Japan.
There is a lot of interest to support Pakistan,” Bristow told the Financial Times, adding that the $9 billion project had “focused a spotlight” on the region.Bristow was speaking on Monday as Barrick, previously called Barrick Gold, reported net earnings of $811mn in the second quarter of 2025 -- up 33 per cent from a year ago -- helped by record-high gold prices.
The first phase of the Reko Diq copper and gold mine — which is 50 per cent owned by Barrick, with Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments holding the rest — will cost an estimated $6.6 billion.
Bristow said he expected Barrick and Pakistan to each invest $1.5bn to $1.8bn, with the remaining $3bn to $3.5bn to be raised from the international lenders.“It’s a perfect situation where Pakistan is investing alongside us, 50-50,” he said. “We bring the skills and we’re the operators, and then we’re gearing it with international limited recourse financing.”
Barrick and Pakistan previously held discussions with Saudi Arabia’s Manara Minerals about the state mining fund acquiring up to 20 per cent of the project, but ultimately could not reach an agreement.
The development of Reko Diq, with production due to start in 2028, comes at a time of increased geopolitical competition for the metals needed for energy infrastructure and military hardware.
President Donald Trump has made access to minerals a foreign policy priority for the US, as have other western countries.Bristow said any US government funding for Reko Diq would give it access to copper concentrate produced by the mine, but that this would then need to be processed into metal.
“The challenge for the US is smelting to capacity, it’s all spoken for,” he said, adding that the US needed more domestic smelters if it really wanted to reduce its dependence on imports of metal from China.
In an interview with Reuters, Barrick Mining CEO Mark Bristow said Barrick is not acting as a facilitator between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan for the Reko Diq copper-gold project. Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF was in talks with the Pakistani government to invest in the project.
Bristow also said the World Gold Council is waiting for clarity from the United States regarding potential tariffs on gold bars, but he added that the impact on mining companies would be minimal as they are “price takers.”
پاسخ:
خانه معدن ایران
اطلاعات بیشتر
کلیه حقوق این سایت نزد خانه معدن ایران محفوظ بوده و بازنشر محتوا با ذکر منبع بلامانع است. طراحی و توسعه توسط الفباوب
نظر: