Federal cabinet approves Saindak Mine lease to Chinese company
Gwadar Pro
Islamabad: Federal cabinet has approved extension of Saindak Mine lease to the Chinese company – Metrological Construction Company of China (MCC), registered locally with the name of Saindak Metals Limited (SML).The Chinese company is already working on the project. Federal Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar said the Federal Cabinet had approved extension of Saindak Mine lease to the Chinese company.
“As per the newly negotiated agreement, the government of Pakistan’s share in profit has increased from 50:50 to 53:47 in Pakistan’s favour,” he tweeted after the federal cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan.
He informed that the royalty to the Balochistan government was also enhanced from 5 percent to 6.5 percent of sales revenue, besides “social uplift support to the government of Balochistan from 5% to 6.5% of net profit & increase in annual rent by up to 40% (indexed with price).”
The minister maintained that the newly negotiated agreement was concluded in consultation with all the stakeholders including the Balochistan provincial government.
The Ministry of Energy had earlier submitted a summary on 15 years’ extension of lease contract between the Saindak Metals Limited (SML) of Pakistan and the Metrological Construction Company of China (MCC) for the Saindak Copper Gold Project. Currently the lease contract was valid till Oct 31, 2022, which would now expire in 2037.
The revised terms showed that the profit share of the SML has been increased from 50% to 53%. Similarly, the royalty to the Balochistan government has been increased from 5% to 6.5% of the sales revenues.
The social uplift support to the provincial government has also been increased from 5% to 6.5% of the net profit. The venture will also give Rs10 million for scholarships to the students of Chaghi.
The MCC will pay US $700,000 per annum as rent and another US $500,000 annual for the London Metal Exchange (LME) copper price, according to the revised terms. The MCC will make US $45.5 million additional investment on a need basis.
This project had been developed for local ore exploration, mining and processing of blister copper. The federal government has invested more than Pakistani Rs 29.2 billion in the project and it has been declared as an Export Processing Zone (EPZ) up till October 31, 2022.
In another tweet, Hammad Azhar stated that Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL) would be taking over operation and working share from China Zenhua Oil in the Baska Block that spanned over 2500 square kilometer area in Dera Ismail Khan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Musa Khel area.
“The previous (Chinese) company was unable to carry out exploration for oil/gas in this terrain since 2007. PPL will do so now,” he explained.
Separately, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry told a post-federal cabinet meeting news conference that the country’s first ever Digital Cloud Policy also got cabinet’s nod.
He mentioned that the cabinet approved reducing prices of Remdesivir injection from 3967 to 2308 Pakistani rupees for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. “It is a matter of great satisfaction that Pakistan has now become a major exporter of Covid related material, including Remdesivir injection,” he contended.
Chaudhry underscored that the cabinet approved 15 percent increase in the salaries of civil armed forces and a disparity allowance for the employees of the Federal Government from scale one to 19.
