On March 20, Barrick Gold and Antofagasta announced that they had reached a framework agreement with the governments of Pakistan and Baluchistan province to restart the Reko Diq (RD) project. The project, one of the world's largest undeveloped open-pit porphyry copper-gold deposits, was suspended in 2011 amid a dispute over the legality of the permit process.
バルチスタン州のチャギ地区にあるRDプロジェクトには、約1,200万トンの銅と、バリックの合弁会社であるTethyan Copper Company Pty Limited（TCC）が以前所有していた650トン（20.9Moz）の金資源があります。とアントファガスタ。
TCC's 1998 agreement with the Baluchistan government gave it the right to a mining lease, but only under the government's usual requirements. After TCC invested 220m in exploration, The project stalled after Pakistan refused to grant a mining permit in 2011, citing "opaque access methods". TCC subsequently initiated international arbitration with the World Bank's Center for International Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and won the case in July 2019 with a compensation award of us 5.97 billion (38 billion yuan). The figure is equivalent to 2 percent of Pakistan's GDP, and Pakistan continues to pursue legal action without paying.
協定は、再構築されたプロジェクトがバリックによって50パーセント所有され、パキスタンの利害関係者によって50パーセント所有されることを規定しています。
バロチスタン政府は10パーセントの株式を保有しています。
バロチスタン政府が所有する特別目的会社が15％の株式を保有しています。
他のパキスタンの州-所有の会社は25パーセントを保持します。
Another agreement stipulates that Antofagasta will not participate in the restructured project because the RD project does not support the company's growth strategy, which focuses on copper and by-product production in the Americas, particularly Chile, Peru, the US and Canada. The two sides have agreed to work together this year to finalize and ratify the final agreement. Antofagasta will exit its equity interest in TCC if the agreement is executed and the following conditions are met:
RDプロジェクトはTCCによって再構築され、TCCのICSIDの決定は解決されます。
A consortium of Pakistani state-owned companies will acquire a stake in TCC's subsidiary, which will hold the project, for a consideration of about 900 million;
収益はアントファガスタに分配されます。
バリックはプロジェクトの運営者となり、指定された期間にわたってプロジェクトに適用される財政体制を安定させるために、鉱業リース、探査ライセンス、地表権および鉱物契約を受け取ります。 鉱業協定の下での金融制度の安定化を含む、最終協定の最終決定と承認のプロセスは完全に透明であり、連邦政府と州政府、およびパキスタン最高裁判所が関与します。 正式な合意が成立し、完了条件が満たされると、ICSIDによる損害賠償の決済を含め、プロジェクトが再構築されます。 バリックの社長兼最高経営責任者であるマーク・ブリストウは、この合意をRDプログラムの開発と運用における重要な前進として、また相互に有益な結果を達成するために協力の精神で取り組むというすべての当事者の決定への賛辞として歓迎しました。 ;
"Barrick has successfully worked with host countries around the world and our philosophy of equitable sharing of the economic benefits generated by the mine with our core stakeholders is also evident in the ownership structure of the new RD. This is a unique opportunity for substantial foreign investment in Baluchistan that will bring enormous direct and indirect benefits not only to the region but also to Pakistan for decades to come. In addition to local employment and skills development, local procurement, infrastructure upgrades and improved health and education systems, RD can serve as a springboard for further exploration and other mineral discoveries along the highly promising Tethys metallogenic belt."
Upon completion of the transaction, Barrick will commence a comprehensive update of the project's feasibility study in 2010 and pre-feasibility study for expansion in 2011, which envisages the production of high-quality copper and gold concentrate using conventional truck and forklift open-pit mining operations with crushing and flotation processing facilities. If all goes according to plan, RD could be in production within five to six years, Mr Bristow said.
