SSCOPNR suggests abstention from litigation on Reko Diq

Pakistan

SSCOPNR suggests abstention from litigation on Reko Diq

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Senate Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Resources has recommended that Reko Diq Project should not be dragged towards litigation.

25 February,2011 02:10 am

If the contract has the feasibility, The Tethyan Copper Company Pakistan, the contractor of the project, should be persuaded to do the refining in Pakistan.The standing committee meeting was held in Islamabad under the chairmanship of Senator Sabir Ali Baloch. Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Resources Director General Arshad Khokhar told the committee that TCCP claimed to have invested $435 million in the project. He said that the company was supposed to complete its exploration by 2008. The secretary said that Reko Diq mines have 5.87 billion tons of gold and copper reserves. He went on to add that some 2.2 billion gold and copper could be extracted from the mines. According to the law, the contract of minerals’ extraction would go to the same company, which had the contract of exploration, the secretary said, adding that the province has the right of 5% royalty on the reserves.