NOKKUNDI, BALOCHISTAN – Barrick Gold Corporation’s president and chief executive Mark Bristow this week arrived at the site of the Reko Diq project to review its progress and engage with stakeholders who live in and around the area. Due to go into production in 2028, Reko Diq hosts one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits.
Among others, Bristow and his team met representatives of the Par-e-Koh and Nokkundi community development committees, which include members of resident tribes, village elders and youth groups. They also visited the primary schools set up by Reko Diq at the Humai and Mashki Chah villages and inspected a mobile medical unit operated with funding from Reko Diq.
At the Reko Diq development site, Bristow spoke to the project’s employees who, in line with Barrick policy, have been largely recruited locally. Some 75% of the permanent employees are from Balochistan, and most of these are from the surrounding Chagai district.
“Barrick is committed to creating long-term value for our host communities and sharing the economic benefits our operations generate with them to drive their sustainable development. Building and maintaining open and constructive relationships with these communities is one of the key starting points of this process,” Bristow said.
Enquiries:
Country Manager RDMC
Ali Ehsan Rind
media.enquiries@rekodiqmc.com
About Reko Diq
Reko Diq is a world class copper-gold mine in-the-making located in Chagai district of Balochistan province, in Pakistan. Reko Diq is expected to have a life of at least 40 years as a truck-and-shovel open pit operation with processing facilities producing a high-quality copper-gold concentrate. One of the largest undeveloped copper-gold projects in the world, Reko Diq is owned 50% by Barrick, 25% by three federal state-owned enterprises, 15% by the Province of Balochistan on a fully funded basis and 10% by the Province of Balochistan on a free-carried basis. Barrick is now updating the project’s 2010 feasibility and 2011 feasibility expansion studies. This should be completed by 2024, with 2028 targeted for first production.
Since the new Reko Diq agreement was signed in late 2022 the Reko Diq Mining Company (RDMC) has developed a significant portfolio of CSR projects focused on social development. The company recently inaugurated two healthcare projects, both in collaboration with the IHHN, a credible and renowned leading charity hospital network in Pakistan, which brings a high standard of health services to local communities in both urban and rural locations. One of these projects is the Community Health Center at the Humai village and the other is the Mobile Medical Unit, equipped with a pharmacy and a lab, which serves as a temporary healthcare solution for the communities in and around Nokkundi town until the IHHN-RDMC hospital at Nokkundi is ready. Earlier in the year RDMC funding made two primary schools in Humai and Mashki Chah villages and a water treatment plant in Humai village operational. These projects, all of which are fully functional, are valued social investments in the RDMC social development portfolio in Chagai at present.
Apart from the social investment projects, Reko Diq will be a major contributor to Pakistan’s economy which is expected to have a transformative impact on the Balochistan province where, in addition to the economic benefits it will generate, the mine will also create jobs and promote the growth of a regional economy. Barrick’s policy of prioritizing local employment and suppliers will have a positive impact on the local population of Chagai district in Balochistan.