Tethyan Copper Company denied mining license by Balochistan Mining Committee

Tethyan Copper Company denied mining license by Balochistan Mining Committee

The Reko Diq project, a mining venture to be carried out in Chagai, which was supposed to be awarded to Tethyan Copper Company, is now hanging in the balance as Balochistan Mining Committee has denied them mining license.

On Thursday, November 18, 2011 Amanullah Kanrani, Advocate General of Balochistan, submitted a regional government’s report, regarding the prevailing topic, to Pakistan’s Supreme Court.

The report read that TTC failed to provide complete feasibility report to Balochistan Mining Committee, whose sole purpose was to examine the practicability of the Reko Diq project. The commission was headed by the director general
of Mines and Mineral Department Balochistan.

TCC have a right to go against the petition in court. A  Balochistan government official said, “TCC can appeal in the court against the decision.”

Tethyan Copper Company had acquired the services of SNC-Lavalin for the study. It cost the company around $220 million. The study was carried on for about four years during which 5,000 samples from an area spread over 13,000 kilometres
were taken into consideration. TCC had earlier asked for more time to answer all the concerns of   Balochistan government over conceding the mining licence

TTC is a joint venture between Antofagasta and Barrick Gold. Antofagasta is a Chilean company that produces copper while Barrick’s is from Canadian background.

Antofagasta were confident of winning over the committee’s confidence. They had issued a statement on Wednesday, November 16 that reads, “Tethyan strongly believes that the Reko Diq project can contribute significantly to the development
of a modern mining industry in Balochistan and will consider its options for a further course of action.”

Earlier this year, issues related to the gold mining license of Reko Diq were conferred to Balochistan by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

Chagai a district of Balochistan has the fourth largest copper reserves in the world. According to an estimate, the mining project has a life 56 years and can produce 200,000 tons of copper and 250,000 ounces of gold on annual
basis.

Feasibility report to the provincial government was submitted by TCC in August 2010 and the company applied for a mining licence in February 2011.

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Posted by Wajahat Javed on Nov 17 2011. Filed under Business, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry