Mining minerals

An epoch-making commercial headway was made with the US as an MoU on extraction of rare-earth elements to the tune of $500 million was signed in the federal capital earlier this week. It signifies the broadened understanding between the two countries, and marks a welcome departure from its confinement to the security prism which Washington had been obsessed with since the heydays of the Cold War.

This new engagement luckily has seen progress as the sole superpower is also interested in tapping Pakistan's oil reserves, mostly offshore, and in extending the mosaic of bilateral trade. The clinching of a trade deal in July with a reduction in reciprocal tariffs — from 29 to 19% — has paved the way for strategic interaction in the civil domain.

The accord inked between USSM, a Missouri-based US company, and FWO must see real-time headway, and an institutional decorum must set in. The USSM specialises in extracting critical metals from old lithium-ion batteries and mining cobalt, nickel and copper, and could go a long way in creating jobs, and transfer of technology through sustainable development. Likewise, the partnership will instantly see the export of readily available minerals from Pakistan, including antimony, copper, gold, tungsten and other REEs.

Earlier initiatives in Saindak and Reko Diq must also get a shot in the arm as investor confidence is emboldened, as Pakistan emerges as the new destination for minerals extraction.

However, there is a point to ponder: will this MoU with the US stand the litmus test of business and trade as New Delhi again mulls a renewed strategic clout with the US after having run into a confused syndrome with the superpower in terms of tariffs and trade? This is where some astute diplomacy is required along with buoyed economic interaction at all ministerial forums so that the bilateral trade volume is enhanced from the existing $7.6 billion to something like $20 billion, and other avenues such as oil and gas, agriculture, industry are also shoved in the right direction.