Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris Eyes Stake in $7Billion Reko Diq Mine، Pakistan

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris، who has forged a fortune in telecom and gold، is eyeing an investment in Barrick Gold Corp.'s $7 billion Reko Diq copper-gold mine project beginning in 2028، for at least 40 years، in the Balochistan region that borders Afghanistan and Iran، which is one of the world’s largest undeveloped deposits and jointly owned by Toronto-based Barrick Gold and Pakistan as he looks to expand his business in Pakistan.

Bloomberg Agency reported that Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris is keen to invest Reko Diq copper-gold mine project as it is one the world’s largest undeveloped copper and gold deposits، capable of producing 200 thousand tons of copper and 250 thousand ounces of gold a year for more than half a century.

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris is interested in investing in Reko Diq

Asked whether he was interested in investing in Reko Diq copper-gold mine project، Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris Sawiris، a major investor in gold miners including Endeavour Mining Plc through his La Mancha Resources Inc.، said "yes."

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris revealed that he has an advantage compared to other investors as he knows the country، and has friends there، as well as he wants to be on the Pakistani side، because he has been there for 25 years.

Reko Diq copper-gold mine is the only big project

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris said in an interview in Islamabad that he tried there to look but unfortunately there is only this one big project، Reko Diq copper-gold mine project، however، he did not elaborate on the potential scale of the investment، but added there were few other options، in part due to the lack of geological data.

Mark Bristow، Barrick Chief Executive Officer، said، last month، he was seeing newfound interest in Reko Diq copper-gold mine project from multinational mining firms that have to date been hesitant to venture into tricky regions of the world.

Reko Diq copper-gold mine project has also attracted interest from Saudi Arabia

The Reko Diq copper-gold mine project has also attracted interest from Saudi Arabia، whose presence could serve to stabilize the project in a contentious part of the world.

Pakistan’s state-owned energy exploration companies، which have a stake in the Reko Diq copper-gold mine project، said last month they were looking into potential engagement with sovereign foreign investors، without giving details.

Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris’ Ora Developers is separately working on a luxury housing project، Eighteen، and he earlier set up one of Pakistan’s first mobile phone companies، Mobilink، now owned by Veon Ltd.، and the nation’s largest cellular firm by subscriber numbers.

Hurdles for investment in Pakistan

Pakistan’s lengthy، difficult official procedures، an unstable currency and capital restrictions are hurdles for investment، but Gold Billionaire Sawiris said he remained optimistic to own a stake in $7 Billion Reko Diq copper-gold mine project.

Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris indicates that if there is concrete in his way، he will drill through it and he will go، as he has never let anybody in his life hold him back from what he wanted to achieve.
Egyptian billionaire Naguib Sawiris announced in 2020 that he was holding talks to acquire a 51% stake in the state-owned Shalateen mining company.

Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris chairs private gold mining group La Mancha

Egyptian tycoon Naguib Sawiris chairs private gold mining group La Mancha and had said that he intended to invest in gold and copper mining in Egypt if investment conditions improved as Egypt issued new regulations that appeared to eliminate the need for mining companies to form joint ventures with the government and to limit state royalties to a maximum 20%.

Meanwhile، Mark Bristow، CEO of Barrick Gold Co. stated earlier that Barrick was open to Saudi wealth fund، Public Investment Fund (PIF)، buying stake in Pakistan's Reko Diq project and is open to bringing in Saudi Arabia's wealth fund as one of its partners in Pakistan's Reko Diq gold and copper mine.

Barrick Gold owns a 50% stake in Pakistan's Reko Diq mine

Barrick Gold owns a 50% stake in Pakistan's Reko Diq mine، with the remaining 50% owned by the governments of Pakistan and the province of Balochistan and Barrick considers the mine one of the world's largest underdeveloped copper-gold areas.

Barrick، the world's No.2 gold producer، considers sovereign wealth funds from the Middle East as serious، long-term investors to whom the company can sell its long term vision of growing its copper and gold business.

Asked about the company's interest in First Quantum Minerals، Bristow replied that Barrick will stick to growing its production organically and that its acquisition strategy would be measured and there are people suggesting First Quantum، but Barrick shareholders are gold bulls so he didn't know where that rumour came from، it was definitely not the company، but that certainly helped lift their shares up.