ISLAMABAD (The Thursday Times) — Pakistan’s two-day minerals investment forum ended in Islamabad on Friday with 13 agreements and memorandums of understanding signed between Pakistani bodies and foreign companies and governments, and with the Frontier Works Organisation reporting an estimated 350 million tonnes of copper ore in Balochistan’s Chagai district.
The organisers said more than 10,000 people from over 60 countries attended the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum 2026, which the government held with the backing of the Special Investment Facilitation Council and with the Oil and Gas Development Company as founding partner.
What was signed
The agreements announced at the closing session included a joint venture between Türkiye’s Lidiya Mining and Mari Minerals to explore and develop mineral resources in Chagai, and a strategic framework agreement between Türkiye’s MTA International Company and Mari Minerals for exploration and mine development in the same district.
MTA International also formed a joint venture with the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation to explore for antimony, copper, gold, silver, molybdenum, and other critical minerals in Balochistan’s Pishin district.
The Frontier Works Organisation signed an agreement with Ivanhoe Mines to work together on exploration and mining projects in Balochistan. It was signed by Ivanhoe’s founder and co-chairman, Robert Friedland, and the FWO’s chief executive, Abdul Sami. Two further memorandums were signed with Ivanhoe Atlantic.
Britain’s MSALABS, a subsidiary of Capital Limited, partnered with Mari MSA Labs to set up a commercial mineral testing laboratory in Pakistan. The Geological Survey of Pakistan signed cooperation agreements with Türkiye’s mineral research directorate, with Germany, and with the British Geological Survey, and Pakistan and Japan exchanged a statement of intent on support for the survey.
Other agreements covered an assessment of gemstone resources to international reporting standards, an airborne geophysical survey, and ambient noise tomography, an exploration technique that maps rock beneath the surface using natural ground vibrations.
Copper in Chagai
The FWO said its estimate of 350 million tonnes of copper ore in the Dasht-e-Kain area of Chagai was based on roughly half of the drilling data analysed so far. It did not give a grade, and the figure has not been independently assessed.
National Resources Limited said it had found copper and gold mineralisation across at least eight porphyry discoveries in Chagai after drilling nearly 25,000 metres, and announced a $100 million investment commitment in Pakistan’s mineral sector. Mari Minerals announced its first gold and copper discoveries in Balochistan.
Barrick’s executive chairman, John Thornton, reaffirmed the company’s commitment to Pakistan and to Reko Diq, in which it holds a 50 per cent stake, saying the company intended to remain a long-term partner.
From signatures to delivery
Addressing the closing session, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said mineral development must go hand in hand with environmental protection, and urged investors to use modern technology and meet international standards to protect water resources and the health and safety of mine workers. He and Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir both said Pakistan wanted to move beyond exporting raw minerals to refining, processing, and manufacturing at home.
The forum’s president, Ahmed Hayat Lak, who heads the Oil and Gas Development Company, said the forum had launched a National Minerals Database and Data Centre Portal and a geological portal run by the Geological Survey of Pakistan. He said its true measure would be not the agreements signed but the projects developed and investments realised.
“Pakistan’s mineral wealth is a gift of nature. Transforming it into lasting prosperity is our collective responsibility,” Lak said, inviting delegates back for the next edition in November 2027.
The government opened the forum on Thursday by pitching what it says are $8 trillion in mineral reserves, and the provinces promised investors one-window approvals and security.
