Saudi Arabia confirms $1 billion investment into Reko Diq, diluting Pakistan’s ownership to less than 50%. What about the logistical challenges?

Saudi Arabia’s Minister for Investment, Sheikh Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al Faleh, has confirmed that the Gulf State’s Manara Minerals will invest $1 billion into the Reko Diq Mining project in Balochistan. This comes at a time when the project, which is aiming to have production by 2028, is still facing serious logistical challenges.  

The announcement is already being spun by the federal government as a major success. Manar Minerals Investment Company is a new entity created through a partnership between the government’s state-owned Saudi Mining Company (Ma’aden) and the country’s sovereign wealth fund. For all intents and purposes it is a direct investment into Reko Diq by the Saudi Government, which was promised by Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad Bin Salman in April. 

The details of the deal are not clear yet, but Saudi Arabia will be buying a minority stake in the project by acquiring part of the Pakistani government’s stake. 

Currently, the Reko Diq Project is 50% owned and operated by Canadian mining company Barrick Gold, which has been involved in the project for many years now through the highs and lows of legal challenges. The remainder of the project is owned 25% by Pakistan’s federal government, and 25% of it is owned by the province of Balochistan. 

Logistical challenges

As the project looks to take off, there are some difficulties it will face which the Saudis will be watching closely. The project site is fairly remote and access to shipping is extremely difficult. It is marred by logistical and infrastructural shortcomings, a concern that has always been there. A major challenge, for example, is picking what port to transport the minerals to. 

From a location perspective, Gawadar Port would make more sense. However, neither does the Gwadar port have a bulk container terminal nor does it have …