Exploitation of Baloch Resources

Balochistan, illegally occupied by Pakistan is its largest occupied territory. It possesses immense natural resources, including mineral reserves estimated at USD1 trillion. Balochistan is a place of colossal mountain ranges and mesmerizingly gorgeous beaches, which holds evergreen minerals underneath it. Balochistan also boasts an abundance of natural resources. Coal, sulfur, chromite, iron ore, barite, marble, quartzite, and limestone are all abundant in the province. Balochistan has significant oil reserves and the world’s most considerable quantities of copper and gold. Natural gas was discovered in 1953 in the Sui area of Dera Bugti, Balochistan, and has since been used to deliver gas throughout Pakistan.

One of the world’s most significant undeveloped copper and gold resources, the Reko Diq mine in Balochistan is a home to about 5.9 billion tons of copper and gold reserves. Balochistan also contains enormous quantities of other minerals. The province is one of the biggest producers of chromite in the world and produces more than 90% of the country’s total output. The manufacturing of stainless steel requires mineral chromite, which is in great demand in the international market.
With an estimated 200 million tons of reserves, Balochistan also has significant iron ore resources.² The province offers excellent potential for the growth of a sizable iron and steel sector. Whereas coal, which is mainly utilized for power generation, is another significant resource that may be found in Balochistan. The province’s estimated 185 billion tons of coal reserves can improve the nation’s energy requirements. Due to the lack of infrastructure and investment, the majority of these deposits still need to be tapped.³

Pakistan is turning Gwadar and other coastal areas of Balochistan into a Chinese stronghold that has the largest concentration of military cantonments and bases in the region. Pakistan handed over the Gwadar port to a Chinese-backed multinational corporation for a lease of 40 years in 2017. China Overseas Port Holding Company has been carrying out development of the port.

“China has spent billions of dollars on building the port town, opening a 300-megawatt coal-fired power plant, and building an international airport at the cost of $230 million, alongside other projects that come under the CPEC umbrella. New bases are being built in Jiwani, Sonmiani and other areas and Baloch people are losing their land and their jobs for nothing in return.

In early 1990s, Pakistan asked for M-9 and M-11 missiles, which China delivered in 1993. In return, Chinese state-owned Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) got the resource-rich Chagai region on 20-year lease. The company found gold and copper deposits in two places named Sandak and Reko Diq.”

The Metallurgical Corporation of China had been aggressively mining gold and copper since 2002 with annual yields of 25 tons of gold and 12 to 15,000 tons of copper. It took home 50 per cent of the profits from these mining operations. The federal government took home 48 per cent of the profits, and Balochistan was left with 2 per cent.

Baloch activists and human rights defenders have raised their voice against the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and termed it as a project of looting and plundering of natural wealth of Balochistan. The projects have systematically excluded the Baloch indigenous people, not only depriving them of employment and development prospects but also forcefully clearing them to make way for the construction sites.

CPEC is a bilateral project between China and Pakistan with a large network of roads, railways and pipelines spanning across 3000 km that will facilitate trade between China, Pakistan and other countries in the region. The project aims to enhance infrastructure in Pakistan and also connect China’s Xinjiang province to ports like Gwadar and Karachi in Pakistan, giving a fillip to trade between the two countries. The official launch of CPEC took place on April 20, 2015, when then Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chinese President Xi Jinping signed 51 agreements and Memorandums of Understanding with a combined value of $46 billion.

Mineral Potential of Balochistan in Relevance to District Locations
Gold and Copper- Reko Diq has reserves of 5.87 billion tons of copper and 42 million ounces of gold. Saindak’s copper deposits are estimated to be 412 million tons, whereas Dasht-e-Kain’s reserves are 400 million tons. Copper processing factories are urged to be built in the aforementioned places.
Iron Ore- There are about 75 million tons of iron ore deposits. It is found in large quantities in the Chagai districts of Pachin Koh, Chigendik, and Chilgazi. Investors are strongly encouraged to build units such as iron ore beneficiation and upgradation plants.

Marble- Onyx marble is abundant in Chaghi and nearby areas. Other locations with marble deposits include Julil (10 million tons), Mashkicha (12 million tons), and Butuk (15 million tons). Marble is in great demand in the construction business due to its aesthetic qualities, such as beauty and sculpting. As a result, investment in this sector, particularly in marble-cutting companies, has much promise.
Sulfur- Sulfur resources are concentrated in the Chaghi area of Balochistan, around the southern and southwestern sides of an extinct volcanic crater known as Koh-i-Sultan. Sulfur reserves in Koh-i-Sultan are 50 million tons. Investing in sulfur chemical packaging factories has a high return on investment.
Chromite- For over a century, the Khuzdar-Pishin and Muslim Bagh-Killa Saifullah districts have produced half a million tons of chromium ore yearly. Chromite deposits have also been discovered at Khuzdar, Bela, Zhob, and Dalbandin. As a result, installing plants such as ferro-chromite plants is strongly advocated.
Titanium- Titanium and its alloys are utilized in military and civilian aircraft, rockets, missiles, and power plants. Titanium has been discovered in Ziarat and used. Investments in value-added factories and processing units are therefore encouraged.
Gypsum and Nickle- Gypsum deposits are abundant in the districts of Sibi, Barkan, Kohlu, and Loralai. Furthermore, Nickle ore with 0.85% Nickle has been reported from Muslim Bagh and Zhob districts. Investment in value-added and processing plants is encouraged.
Coal- Degari, Sinjidi, Mach, Pir Ismael, Ziarat, Duki, and Chamalang have a total coal resource of 217 million tons. Investment in coal-fired power stations and coal-washing plants is attractive for Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs).

Barite- Pakistan is regarded as one of the world’s top barite-producing countries, with just occupied Balochistan’s Khudzar providing over 1.7 million tons of the entire 5 million tons of yearly output. A barium chemical plant with assured high returns can be constructed in Khuzdar.
Tungsten, Lead, and Zinc- Tungsten ore, molybdenum, and tin may be found in the Amalaf region of the Chagai district. More than 26 million tons of lead and zinc ore are in Lasbela and Chagai. Investment in value-added and processing plants is encouraged.

1. Chamalang Coal Mines

Chamalang Coal Mines are extended over in the districts of Kohlu, Barkhan, and mostly concentrated in Loralai and expands over an area of 500 square miles. The high-quality Chamalang coal mines were first discovered in 1885 when the region was under British control. The mines are the second largest in Asia.

Since 2007, when the excavation commenced, 1.5 million tons of coal has been excavated which has generated Rs. 6 billion (US$21million) in revenues. A total of 500 million tons of coal deposits have been confirmed which worth Rs.2000 billion (US$6.9billion).[1][4] Chamalang coal mines contain coal ranging from high volatile C bituminous to high volatile A bituminous.[5] Currently, 80 percent of Chamalang Coal is utilized by bricks makers and the remaining is consumed by cement industry which in order to reduce cost of production, blend it with imported coal.[5] The quality of Chamalang coal is better than the rest of coal being mined from different coalfields in Balochistan[5].

2. Duddar Mines: The Duddar lead-zinc mining project is located in the Lasbela District of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan Province. The Chinese operate the country’s first underground metal mining project at Duddar in the Kanraj Valley of the Lasbela District, about 135 kilometers north of Karachi, the country’s financial capital.

While the China Metallurgical Construction Group Corp (MCC) is the investor and developer of the project, the construction and production is carried out by the China Huaye Group (华冶集团). MHD — the MCC Huaye Duddar Mining Company — is the operator of the lead-zinc mining project in Balochistan. The management of the project comprises mostly Chinese nationals assisted by Pakistanis.

The ore reserves at the Duddar mine have been estimated at 50 million tonnes with ore grading of 3.2% for lead and 8.6% for zinc. The Duddar mining project originally started in 2005, but difficult mining conditions forced it to close. An investment of $236 million, including $108 million by MCC and $101 million by MHD, was made to bring the project to the production stage.

Hundreds of trucks loaded with the project’s minerals leave Duddar each month for Karachi via the road leading to the town of Winder, where they take the road leading to the port city of Karachi. There the minerals are taken by ship to China for processing. The Duddar–Winder road is the only paved road, constructed by the government of Pakistan. This is used by the Chinese company for transportation of zinc and lead to the port of Karachi.

In 2014, MHD took over the project, which is located in Kanraj, the least developed and most backward area of Lasbela District. In 2019, the Duddar project reached its peak annual production capacity of 500,000 tonnes only to benefit the Chinese.

The advanced technology in the mine does not seem to be matched by any advancement in living conditions for people around the mine. The villages around the Duddar project are still deprived of basic civic facilities. The availability of basic health and education facilities is still a dream for locals,” Comrade Saleem Baloch, a political activist in Lasbela, told. “There is no hospital with proper treatment facilities and medical equipment and no quality education institutions in the entire district. There is only one government primary school for girls and one high school for the boys in Kanraj. The school buildings are in poor condition,” said Baloch.

“The locals are not the primary beneficiary of any of the projects in Balochistan, including the Chinese-run Duddar mining project,” Aslam Bhootani, the Member of the National Assembly (MNA) elected from the Lasbela District, told The China Project. “Balochistan’s resources are the main reason behind most of its problems. The exploitation of resources without benefiting the locals has intensified the sense of deprivation and alienation in the province,” Bhootani said.

3. Saindak Copper Gold Project: The Saindak Copper-Gold Mine is located near the town of Saindak and the deposits at Saindak were discovered back in the 1970s in collaboration with a Chinese engineering firm. The Saindak mine has total estimated reserves of 412 million tons, of which, an estimated 1.69 million tons are mineable. Saindak has the capacity of producing roughly 15,800 tons of copper blister, 1.47 tons of gold and 2.76 tons of silver. For the purposes of mining, the Saindak Copper-Gold Project was set up by Saindak Metals Ltd (SML), a company fully owned by the Government of Pakistan, at the end 1995 with a cost 13.5 billion rupees. However, in 2002, in order to revive the project, Pakistan and China signed a formal contract the same year worth $350 million for the development of Saindak Copper-Gold mine. The contract between SML and China’s MCC Resources Development Co. Ltd. (MRDL) expired in October 2012, but was extended for a 5-year period till October, 2017. It was then again extended for another five years till October 30, 2022. Now it has been given an extension up to 2035. As per agreement, 49% of revenues from the mine go to MCC-Metallurgical Construction Corporation of China, while 51% of it goes to the government of Balochistan and 6.5 % as the royalty.

The Chairman of MCC, a Chinese company, working on the Sendak Gold project, said that his

company had given a profit of $468 million to the Government of Pakistan from the project, which amounted to PKR 182.83 billion. He added that Sendak Gold received a total of $74 million from the project last year, which amounts to PKR 13.96 billion. If the one-year revenue figures of the Chinese company are taken into account, then according to their calculations, the revenue for 15 years becomes PKR 213.73 billion.

Some experts declared the Chinese company’s data a lie. They said that the Chinese company has produced only 16426 tons but has refrained from disclosing other minerals. The MCC chairman also claimed that the company had spent $2 million on the Coronavirus endemic in 2020, which amounts to PKR 354 million, and donated $43 million, or PKR 7.6 billion, to the Government of Pakistan for the vaccine. However, MCC’s chairman, Hee Zoping, did not say in his statement how much he had spent on the treatment of the population affected by the nuclear radiation in the region as a result of the May 1998 nuclear tests in Raskoh of Chaghi district. How much money was spent on the water, electricity, and basic infrastructure for the local population? How many schools did they build in the area?

Work began on the Sendak project in 1974, where 412 million tons of gold and copper were discovered. From the southern part of these deposits alone, it was estimated to produce 15.810 tons of copper, 1.47 tons of gold, and 2.76 tons of silver annually. It was estimated to generate more than 55 million annually. But the Pakistani authorities considered the gold and silver of Sendak as booty. They leased it to the Chinese company MCC for ten years for only $500,000 per annum, which amounts to PKR 30 million per annum.

Initially, under the agreement between the government of Pakistan and the Chinese company, the revenue from the Sendak project 70% share is for Chinese company, 25% share in over the net of Pakistan and only 2% share in royalties for unfortunate Balochistan but the fruits of 2% share for two decades could not reach Baloch people.

The Sendak project has been a productive project for 80 years. The project will remain in control of the Chinese company for another 60 years. The project’s revenue will be controlled by the same powerful forces and elites who have been filling their pockets with this revenue for 20 years. Large quantities of zinc are being obtained from the area.

Except for Sendak, the Chinese companies obtain zinc from Sunni-Shoran in Kachhi and Lasebella districts. The minerals are packed in regular boxes and transported to China by helicopters. The mentioned minerals income has not been disclosed to the Baloch people where Chinese companies operate. Even locals can’t go near the sites of Chinese operations due to very tight security there.

After taking Balochistan control in 1947, it was given the status of a colony because the lustful eyes of the Pakistani rulers were fixed on the immense mineral wealth of Balochistan. Imperialism’s regional allies prioritized this region’s one thousand kilometers of coastline, geographical importance, and minerals. First of all, they put their hands on the gas, which is being extracted out of Sui Tehsil of Dera Bugti District. Gas was necessary to supply fuel to Punjab and Sindh factories and boost the economy of Pakistan. Thus, when Sui started producing gas in 1952, it was misused due to mismanagement and neglect of the bureaucracy. In the big cities of Karachi, Lahore, and entire Pakistan, people used to cook potato, fritters, corn, kebabs, and peanuts on gas-fire on the sidewalks. Then they used it in brick kilns of Punjab. Thanks to this gas, the stoves of houses and five-star hotels kept burning. Sui’s gas has been used in thousands of factories and has been the backbone of Pakistan’s economy for over 60 years. Gas was supplied to all corners of Pakistan.

Forty years later, at the army’s request, General Zia-ul-Haq approved the gas supply to Quetta City in 1986, depriving its original owner, Balochistan, of the blessing of gas. The bureaucracy, industrialists, and rulers of Punjab have been looting relentlessly gas of Balochistan for six decades. Still, they deprived Balochistan of its share, and during this period, they did not even disclose one-year income to the people of Balochistan. In Pakistan, 20% of factories run on stolen gas, and with the connivance of gas company officials, 10% percent of burglaries in Balochistan’s resource the gas is supplied in houses and hotels.

About 10% of gas was wasted, i.e., 40% of gas was stolen every year. As a result, the 100-year-old gas reserves were depleted in six decades. Today the whole country is suffering from a gas crisis. The stoves of the houses have become cold, and the factories are closing down.

Since the British era, coal from Balochistan has been taken out and used in brick kilns of Punjab for 60 years. So far, billions of tons of coal have been transported to Punjab. Coal played an essential role in the construction and development of the buildings and became a source of employment.

Reco Dick sees a pile of sand, but the presence of vast deposits of gold and silver buried beneath has made it attractive to Pakistani masters and multinational companies. Reco Dick is the fifth largest reserve globally, where extensive gold, silver, and minerals deposits exist.

The government of Balochistan (Jam Yousuf) leased the multinational company Tethyan for 30 years at PKR 5000 per acre against the people’s will. Reco Dick’s production capacity is said to be 56 years. The minerals produced from it are estimated at $112 billion, more than PKR 977.62 billion. If this amount is divided among the 8 million population of 22 districts among the Baloch population, then per head share becomes PKR 2.47 million, while per family of five members can gain PKR 6.64 million. Suppose this estimated amount is utilized for the province. In that case, high-standard hospitals can be set up to control cancer, kidney, AIDS, TB, and other deadly diseases, which this colonized region inherited. Hundreds of factories can be set up to prevent unemployment. Higher educational institutions and universities can be set up. Thousands of dams can be built. The people can be given a sustainable infrastructure, and the poverty-stricken people can be pulled out from the state of deprivation and lead a prosperous life.

Reco Dick is said to have 22 billion British pounds of copper and three million ounces of gold reserves. Dollar and gold prices are rising steadily, so the worth of these minerals may increase further in the future. One thousand foreign planes pass from trajectories of the extended coastal areas of Balochistan daily. Revenue of billions of rupees from this corridor has not been disclosed to the people of Balochistan to date. When the British occupied India and made its colony, English rulers rode on the shoulders of local agents and invaded India for another two hundred years without any resistance. Pakistani rulers are also using the tactics of white masters in Balochistan. Surprisingly, they are also successful because Balochistan has no shortage of touts. Therefore, to provide constitutional and legal justification for the looting of the mineral and coastal resources of Balochistan, the establishment has formed its favored government in the province. The party and politicians are brought into power with no political history but overnight established by mercenaries. Who have no role and no political background, and by sitting in closed sessions and ratifying the secret agreement, the national wealth Reco Dick was bargained for 5% royalty. That is a matter of concern and a severe challenge to the nationalist political parties’ claim for being defenders of Baloch rights and Balochistan.

4. Reko Diq: Reko Diq represents one of the largest copper and gold reserves in the world having estimated reserves of 5.9 billion tons of ore grading, 0.41% copper and gold reserves amounting to 41.5 million ounces, and a mining life of at least 40 years. As regards to Reko Diq, in 1993 Broken Hill Proprietary Company (BHP) Australia and Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) signed an agreement titled Chaghi Hills Exploration Joint Venture Agreement (CHEJVA). In 2006, Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) acquired the project of Barrick & Antofagasta. The Supreme Court in 2011 declared CHEJVA illegal, the Balochistan government then refused the Mining Lease and the matter later went into international litigation. A settlement was reached in 2022 between all parties. As a consequence, Barrick Gold acquired the mining leases and exploration license, and started exploration. It has incurred the Government of Balochistan 33% of the total financial benefits of the project with $32 billion over the project life.Apart from socio-economic uplift of the area,8,000 job opportunities in the development phase and 3000 in production phase are created.