Saudi firm to buy stake in Reko Diq in coming weeks, says kingdom’s investment minister

Saudi Minister for Investment Sheikh Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al Faleh on Thursday confirmed that the kingdom’s Manara Minerals was set to buy a stake in Barrick Gold’s Reko Diq gold and copper mine in the coming weeks. Barrick Gold owns a 50 per cent stake in Pakistan’s Reko Diq mine, with the remaining 50pc owned by the governments of Pakistan and the province of Balochistan. Barrick considers the mine one of the world’s largest underdeveloped copper-gold areas. In August, Barrick Gold’s chief executive had said that the company was open to bringing in Saudi Arabia’s wealth fund as one of its partners in Pakistan’s Reko Diq gold and copper mine. Addressing the Pakistan Saudi Arabia Business Forum in Islamabad today, Minister Al Faleh said: “I am glad we have a newly-formed venture called Manara between PIF and Ma’aden — our national champion in mining — and they are eager to start a number of initiatives but the first one we hope to conclude in the next few weeks will be for them to enter into the Reko Diq project with state-owned enterprises of Pakistan.