Barrick pitches $3.5bn Reko Diq deal to global lenders

August 11, 2025 (MLN): Canadian mining giant Barrick Mining is seeking to raise $3.5 billion from international lenders, including US-backed institutions, to fund the construction of the Reko Diq copper and gold mine in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

This came after earlier talks for Saudi Arabian financing failed to produce a deal.

Barrick CEO Mark Bristow confirmed that the company is working on a financing package involving lenders from G7 countries, including the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation, the US Export-Import Bank, the US Development Finance Corporation, the Asian Development Bank, and institutions in Germany, Canada, and Japan.

“There is a lot of interest to support Pakistan,” Bristow told the Financial Times, adding that the $9 billion project had “focused a spotlight” on the region.

The first phase of the Reko Diq mine, jointly owned by Barrick (50%) and the Pakistani federal and provincial governments (50%), is expected to cost $6.6 billion.

Barrick and Pakistan will each contribute between $1.5 billion and $1.8 billion, with the remainder to be raised through international financing.

“It’s a perfect situation where Pakistan is investing alongside us, 50-50,” Bristow said. “We bring the skills and we’re the operators, and then we’re gearing it with international limited recourse financing.”

Barrick had previously explored funding options with Saudi Arabia’s Manara Minerals, which considered acquiring a 20% stake in the project. However, the talks concluded without an agreement.

Production at Reko Diq is scheduled to begin in 2028, amid growing global competition for strategic minerals critical to energy infrastructure and military technology.

The project has attracted geopolitical interest, particularly from the United States, which is actively seeking to secure mineral supply chains amid concerns over Chinese dominance in metal refining.

Bristow noted that any US involvement in financing could give it access to the mine’s copper concentrate, though the country still lacks sufficient domestic smelting capacity to process it into usable metal.

“The challenge for the US is smelting to capacity, it’s all spoken for,” he said. “The US needs more domestic smelters if it wants to reduce dependence on Chinese imports.”

Meanwhile, Barrick is also dealing with legal challenges elsewhere. In Mali, its Loulo-Gounkoto gold mine has been under court-appointed administration since June, following a dispute with the country’s military government over mining laws introduced in 2023.

The company has initiated international arbitration through the World Bank’s ICSID.

Bristow, who has previously used arbitration successfully in Pakistan and Tanzania, expressed confidence in the legal process.

“The world has become a place where the concept of agreements and commitments is all fungible,” he said. “It would go against the principles of why people invest in us if we showed that any deal is acceptable, no matter the implications.”

Barrick reported second-quarter net earnings of $811 million, up 33% year-on-year, driven by record-high gold prices.

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