PERTH (miningweekly.com) – NYSE and TSX-listed Barrick Gold has flagged the possible restart of its Reko Diq copper/gold project, in Pakistan, after reaching a framework agreement with the Pakistan and Balochistan governments.

Operations at Reko Diq were suspended in 2011 due to a dispute over the legality of its licensing process, and the project is estimated to host one of the world’s largest undeveloped open pit copper-gold porphyry deposits.

Under the terms of the framework agreement, Barrick will be the operator of the project which will be granted a mining lease, exploration licence, surface rights and a mineral agreement stabilising the fiscal regime applicable to the project for a specified period.

The miner told shareholders that the process to finalise and approve definitive agreements, including the stabilisation of the fiscal regime pursuant to the mineral agreement, will be fully transparent and involve the federal and provincial governments, as well as the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

If the definitive agreements are executed and the conditions to closing are satisfied, the project will be reconstituted including the resolution of the damages originally awarded by the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes and disputed in the International Chamber of Commerce.

Barrick’s president and CEO Mark Bristow hailed the agreement as an important step towards the development and operation of Reko Diq and a tribute to the decisions of all parties to work towards a mutually beneficial outcome in a spirit of partnership.

“Barrick has successfully partnered with host countries worldwide and our philosophy of sharing the economic benefits our mines generate equitably with core stakeholders is also evident in the ownership structure of the new Reko Diq. This is a unique opportunity for substantial foreign investment in the Balochistan province and will bring enormous direct and indirect benefits not only to this region but also to Pakistan for decades to come.

“In addition to local employment and skills development, local procurement, infrastructure upgrades and improved medical and education systems, Reko Diq could also be the springboard for further exploration and other mineral discoveries along the highly prospective Tethyan Metallogenic Belt,” he said.

The reconstituted project will be held 50% by Barrick and 50% by Pakistan stakeholders, comprising a 10% free-carried, non-contributing share held by the government of Balochistan, an additional 15% held by a special purpose company owned by the government of Balochistan and 25% owned by other federal state-owned enterprises.

A separate agreement provides for Barrick’s partner Antofagasta PLC to be replaced in the project by the Pakistani parties.

Barrick will start a full update of the project’s 2010 feasibility and 2011 expansion prefeasibility studies, which envisaged a conventional truck-and-shovel open pit operation with comminution and flotation processing facilities producing a high-quality copper-gold concentrate.

Bristow said that if all went according to plan, Reko Diq could be in production within five to six years.