ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top economic decision-making body on Thursday approved a bridge financing proposal worth $390 million to build a 1,350 kilometer railway track to transport exports from mines in the southwestern Balochistan province, the Finance Division said in a statement. 

The Reko Diq mine, located in Pakistan’s largest and poorest Balochistan province, is among the world’s biggest untapped deposits of copper and gold, with the project estimated to generate $90 billion over the next 37 years. Long stalled by legal disputes and political wrangling, the project was revived after a 2022 settlement with Canada’s Barrick Gold. The Canadian company owns a 50 percent stake in the mine while the governments of Pakistan and the province of Balochistan own the other 50 percent. 

Pakistan Railways Minister Hanif Abbasi told Arab News this week that the Reko Diq Mining Company (RDMC), a joint venture between Canada’s Barrick Gold and Pakistan’s federal and Balochistan governments, had agreed to provide $390 million bridge financing for a railway track from Rohri in Sindh to Nokundi in Balochistan province. He said the project would transport one million tons of copper annually, which otherwise would require over 28,000 truckloads each year.

The ECC held a meeting chaired by Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and attended by senior officials at the Finance Division on Thursday to consider various proposals for the mine. 

“The ECC [Economic Coordination Committee] also considered a summary submitted by the Ministry of Railways regarding a rail development agreement and bridge financing agreement with the Reko Diq Mining Company, for the provision of bridge financing amounting to USD 390 million to lay a 1,350 km railway track for transporting large volumes of export material from the mines in Balochistan,” the Finance Division said after the meeting. 

It said the ECC approved the proposal and directed the railways ministry to share the agreement’s document with the Finance Division for appraisal. It also instructed the railways ministry and the finance ministry to submit an update to the ECC by March 2026 on the project’s execution and implementation. 

Aurangzeb noted that the ECC’s approvals signified the government’s “firm commitment” to moving ahead with the project, saying it had the potential to transform Balochistan’s economic landscape. 

“The Reko Diq Project will not only unlock one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits but also catalyze job creation, infrastructure development, and long-term socio-economic uplift across the region,” Aurangzeb said, according to the Finance Division. 

Islamabad has touted the mine as a potential driver of growth and foreign exchange earnings, especially as it looks to escape a prolonged macroeconomic crisis that drained its financial resources and triggered a balance of payments crisis. 

While progress on Reko Diq marks a breakthrough for Pakistan’s mining sector and overall economic development, its location underscores the security and political challenges that have long dogged investment in the province.

Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, has for decades faced a separatist insurgency. Armed groups have repeatedly attacked government facilities, the military, and infrastructure tied to foreign investment, including Chinese projects under the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Insurgents say they are fighting for greater control over the province’s resources and for independence, while the state has described such attacks as terrorism threatening national stability.