ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s military is taking a key role in the development ofone of the world’s biggest untapped copper and gold deposits, which iscurrently stalled by a multi-billion-dollar legal wrangle with foreignmining firms, multiple sources familiar with the situation said.
The Reko Diq mine has become a test case for Prime Minister Imran Khan’sability to attract serious foreign investment to Pakistan as it strugglesto stave off an economic crisis that has forced it to seek an InternationalMonetary Fund bailout.
Ten current and former provincial and federal government officials andmining sources familiar with the project in the Balochistan region say themilitary has become the most important voice on the future of Reko Diq,which it sees as a strategic national asset.
The military will not only be in a position to decide which investorsdevelop the deposit, but an army-controlled engineering firm, FrontierWorks Organization (FWO), is positioning itself to be a member of anyconsortium involved, these people said.
In a statement in response to questions about its role in Reko Diq, themilitary spokesman’s office said, “(The military) may only participate ingovernment’s plan of development of Reko Diq, as per national requirements.”
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But it acknowledged that FWO, best known for building roads throughPakistan’s rugged and lawless border regions, has developed “substantial”mining capability in recent years and would be interested in taking a rolein the project.
“If an opportunity arises of participating in developing Reko Diq, FWO maywork at par with other competitors (or) companies provided the project isfinancially viable (or) suitable,” the statement said.
