**Reko Diq Feasibility Study Completed, OGDCL Confirms $627M Investment**
The Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has announced a major milestone for the Reko Diq project: the completion of its feasibility study. OGDCL also confirmed its $627 million investment in this massive mining venture.
OGDCL holds an 8.33% stake in the $5.6 billion Reko Diq project, which is projected to produce 13.1 million tonnes of copper and 17.9 million ounces of gold over a 37-year lifespan.
This project is a joint venture bringing together OGDCL, Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), Government Holdings (Private) Limited (GHPL), Barrick Gold Corporation, and the Balochistan government. Production is slated to begin in 2028.
The initial phase will process 45 million tonnes of ore annually, with plans to double that capacity to 90 million tonnes by 2034. OGDCL’s board of directors has greenlit financing arrangements, with shareholder equity contributions pegged at $349 million.
Reko Diq is poised to drastically boost Pakistan’s copper and gold output, making a substantial contribution to the nation’s mineral production for nearly four decades.
“Reko Diq is one of the bigger copper-gold undeveloped projects in the world,” said Mark Bristow, chief executive of Barrick. “It’s a very big deal. Any copper mine right now is a big deal.”
In December 2023, Pakistan and Barrick Gold Corporation. signed an $8 billion agreement paving the way to restart the project, which has been on hold since 2011.
Reko Diq project is defined as one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold mines.
A delegation meet with prime minister, Shehbaz Sharif and provided and update. The feasibility study of the project is expected to complete at the end of 2024.