Saudi’s Manara Minerals to buy 10 to 20pc stake in Pakistan’s Reko Diq gold project: report

Saudi Arabian mining fund Manara Minerals is set to buy a 10-20 per cent in the Reko Diq copper and gold project in Pakistan for proceeds of about $500 million to $1 billion, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. Manara Minerals would buy the equity stake from the government of Pakistan, which owns 25pc of the mine, in the project, which is being co-developed by Canada’s Barrick Gold, the FT said, citing sources close to the discussions. Executives from Manara visited Pakistan in May last year for talks about buying a stake in the Reko Diq mine, considered one of the world’s largest underdeveloped copper-gold areas by global mining company Barrick Gold, which owns the project jointly with Pakistan. According to the report, Manara Minerals has planned to buy “between 10-20 pc of the $9bn complex, which is being developed by Barrick Gold, and secure an offtake agreement for future output”.