Reko Diq is a small town in
Chagai
District
, Balochistan
, Pakistan
, in a desert
area 70 kilometres north west of Naukundi,
near to the Iran-Afghan border.
Reko Diq, also the name of an ancient
volcano, literally means
sandy peak, but
this is something of a misnomer. It could be called Tangav Diq, or
gold peak, because according to development expert Syed
Fazl-e-Haider, below the sands lie some 12.3 million tons of copper
and 20.9 million ounces of gold.
The copper-gold deposits at Reko Diq are
believed to be even bigger than those of Sarcheshmeh
in Iran
and Escondida
in Chile
.
Mine
Reko Diq is a giant copper and gold project in Chaghi. The main
license (EL5) is held jointly by the
Government of Balochistan (25%),
Antofagasta Minerals (37.5%) and
Barrick Gold (37.5%).
BHP Billiton, the world's largest
mining company, started this project with the Australian firm
Tethyan, entering into a joint venture with the Balochistan
government and estimating an annual production of 200 to 500
million pounds of copper. A large number of
porphyry rocks are also known to
exist.
The
interests of the Australian company in Reko Diq and its
neighbourhood were taken over by the Toronto
-based
Barrick Gold Corporation and the Chilean Antofagasta
Minerals. These companies were handed a very lucrative deal.
The terms agreed upon show that there is more to the issue than
meets the eye. Royalties were reduced from the initial four to two
per cent. Terms for the provision of cost-free land for an airport
and a 400 km Reko Diq-Gwadar road were accepted. An unjust
clause is that a 25 per cent share will be paid to the Balochistan
government, but only after it invests 25 per cent in the
project.
Antofagasta's net assets at the end of 2007 grew to almost $5bn. In
December 2005 it said: "Tethyan's principal assets are a 75 per
cent interest in the highly prospective Chagai Hills
[sic]
region of North West Pakistan known as Reko Diq, including the
Tanjeel Mineral Resource. This mining district hosts significant
copper-gold porphyry deposits as part of an extended copper-gold
belt. Total indicated and inferred mineral resource estimates at
these properties are 1,213 million tonnes with a copper grade of
0.58% and a gold grade of 0.28 grams per tonne. Estimates include
probable reserves at the Tanjeel of 128.8 million tonnes with a
copper grade of 0.7%."
According to Rob Maguire of the Dominion paper, Barrick is the
foremost gold mining corporation in the world, with sales exceeding
$2.6bn in 2005 and the largest reserves in the industry, at nearly
90 million ounces. Proponents of this project state that the mines
will create thousands of high paying jobs and give a massive boost
to the local economy. However the main fear many have is that
revenues generated by this project will be squandered by corrupt
officials. Therefore it is imperative that a mechanism be evolved
to ensure that revenues generated actually lead to better
infrastructure, education and health.
These corporations have outsourced services to Pakistani
contractors such as ROCKMORE PVT LIMITED, Security 2000, Zia ul Haq
& Company, and foreign companies like Capital Drilling &
Zain Drilling Company. In April 2008, Zain Drilling Company
terminated the services of forty drilling assistants and recruited
novices and non-locals.
The AZAT Foundation has tried to protect
their rights, and on June 14, 2008 a well-attended demonstration
was held outside the Quetta
Press
Club.
There are many advocates of such mega projects who claim that the
Baloch have benefited from their trickle-down effect. However,
mining uses
sodium cyanide,
arsenic and other chemicals which produce toxic
by-products. According to Marcel Claude, vice-president of the
international environmental group
Oceana, gold mining dumps 79
tonnes of waste for every 28 grams of gold and produces 96 per cent
of the world's arsenic emissions.
External links
Wikis
Map
Search
