Reko Diq project: Tethyan Copper files for international arbitration

Move sought after Balochistan refused to grant mining licence.

ISLAMABAD: Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) has filed for international arbitration on Tuesday to protect its legal rights after Balochistan rejected its mining lease application.

“We are disappointed that we have not yet been given the opportunity to resolve this by negotiation,” TCC CEO Tim Livesey said in a statement.

Tethyan Copper – a joint venture between Chilean copper producer Antofagasta and Canada’s Barrick Gold – owns the massive Reko Diq project in Balochistan with reserves estimated at 2.2 billion tons of gold and copper.

“Our feasibility study and mining lease application submission are in accordance with the Balochistan Mineral Rules 2002,” Livesey added.

The Balochistan Mining Committee report says that the feasibility study provided by Tethyan Copper Company was incomplete.

Tethyan Copper Company hired SNC-Lavalin, one of the top three companies of the world conducting feasibility studies, for the study which cost around $220 million and took around three to four years to be completed, according to an official. The company collected over 5,000 samples from an area spread over 13,000 kilometres for its feasibility study.

Tethyan said it has begun arbitration proceedings, but it remains open to meeting with the provincial government and work towards an amicable, negotiated resolution to the dispute.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 30^th, 2011.