Supreme Court of Pakistan rules out and annuls Antofagasta and Barrick mining concession
07-Jan-2013 La Tercera – News
Pursuant to the court decision the agreement that was signed in 1993 to mine an important gold and copper vein had incurred in several infringements that annulled the license originally granted to BHP
The Supreme Court of Pakistan has declared the mining concession granted to a Chilean-capital association to be invalid and illegal to accomplish mining activities in one the world largest gold and copper vein located at the west side of the country.
Pursuant to the court decision the agreement that was signed in 1993 to mine an important gold and copper vein in the Reko Diq area had incurred in several infringements that annulled the license originally granted to BHP (with headquarters in the U.S.A.).
After two profitable intercompany transfers but never starting the prospection works, the license was acquired by Tethyan Copper Company (TCC), a joint venture the Chilean Antofagasta and Canadian Barrick undertook for this purpose.
TCC, a society registered in Australia, after acquiring the exploitation rights, announced their intention to only work in a 900 km2 area, very far from the 13,000 km2 originally considered in the first license granted in 1993.
The Reko Diq mining area, the object of the dispute, is located in the very unsettled region of Balochistan and as some local media report, it has one of the largest copper and gold veins in the world.
Its exploitation has been the object of legal disputes for years and legal actions have been taken to different courts in the Asian country until the Supreme Court decision informed last Monday.
The text promulgated by the Supreme Court indicates that the first concession agreed by BHP and the Balochistan Government was irregular because of the size of the land over which the rights were granted -larger than what the law dictates-and added that several administrative authorities had stated their disagreement.
The Regional Government claimed against TTC stating the Chilean-Canadian society had caused profit loss to Treasury for non-collected taxes because their failure to use the license granted.
Pursuant to the Supreme Court, TTC has no right over the mining area originally granted because of license invalidity.
