Tethyan

Mr. Raisani said he plans to give Tethyan a response to its license application by Sept. 22 and remains open to discussions with the company, although negotiations are likely to be tricky after he said the company tried three times to dislodge him from power.

Pakistan Mine Hits Nationalist Vein Owais Tohid 2011

A Tethyan copper- and gold-development project in Pakistan faces new delays or possible cancellation after a provincial government said the mining-lease application was incomplete.

What's News— 2011

Baluchistan's chief minister, Nawab Aslam Raisani, said his government will only grant a mining license to Reko Diq's 75% stake owner, joint-venture company Tethyan Copper Co. Pakistan Ltd., if Tethyan agrees that concentrate produced from the project will be sold to and refined by the province.

Pakistan Mine Hits Nationalist Vein Owais Tohid 2011

Tethyan Workmen at the gold- and copper-mining project being developed by a joint venture of Antogafasta and Barrick Gold.

Pakistan Mine Hits Nationalist Vein Owais Tohid 2011

According to Tethyan's website, the joint venture has spent over $220 million on the project since it acquired the exploration rights in 2006 from a company that had purchased the rights from mining giant BHP Billiton Ltd.

Pakistan Mine Hits Nationalist Vein Owais Tohid 2011

A person familiar with the matter said Tethyan has no plans to move into smelting, and is instead offering to supply a third party with concentrate at commercial rates under a long-term contract.

Pakistan Mine Hits Nationalist Vein Owais Tohid 2011

The government is slated to decide in about a week whether or not to issue Tethyan a mining license and on what terms.

Pakistan Mine Hits Nationalist Vein Owais Tohid 2011

Reko Diq will generate substantial local employment, plus revenue of $25 billion over the life of the mine to each of the Baluchistan and state governments, according to a Tethyan feasibility study.

Pakistan Mine Hits Nationalist Vein Owais Tohid 2011

Tethyan declined to comment on the government's proposed changes to the mining proposal, as it hasn't yet received details.

Pakistan Mine Hits Nationalist Vein Owais Tohid 2011

"If Tethyan wants to do mining, well and good, but I have decided that the total refining will be done by us," he said, adding that if Tethyan makes ore concentrate, "we will buy from them."

Pakistan Mine Hits Nationalist Vein Owais Tohid 2011