No end to exploitation of Balochistan's mineral wealth

Balochistan, January 31: Balochistan is rich in gold, copper, coal, uranium, oil & gas reserves. Unfortunately, the resource-rich province of Pakistan remains poor because of continuous exploitation by Islamabad. The wealth goes to foreign companies as Pakistan has been relying on them for surveys, exploration, mining and refining of mineral wealth. Reko Diq, a small desert town in Chagai district of Balochistan has gold and copper reserves worth 260 billion USD. Some 12.3m tons of copper and 20.9m ounces of gold lie in the Reko Diq area. The exploration work has been carried out by Tethyan Commper Company (Pvt.) Limited (TCC) – a Canadian consortium. Now, TCC wants to take the raw material abroad for refining. This will benefit the company and lead to a massive loss for Balochistan.