QUETTA: The Tethyan Copper Company, previously involved in exploring gold and copper deposits in Reko Diq area of Balochistan, has decided to seek damages for what it sees as breach of contract allegedly committed by the federal and provincial governments.

It will no longer seek grant of a mining lease, it has emerged.

The company has announced that it had withdrawn the case it had filed against the country and the province for “specific performance” in the international forums meant for arbitration.

“As a result… Tethyan would no longer seek the grant of a mining lease at Reko Diq,” said a statement issued recently by the company in London.

In the statement, the chief executive officer of the company, Tim Livesey, said: “Recent developments have regrettably compelled Tethyan to withdraw its request for specific performance.

“Tethyan invested enormous time, effort and capital in the Chagai district. Through that investment, we took a small copper exploration target in a previously unexplored segment of the Tethyan belt and developed it into a world-class mining project at Reko Diq.

“While we have long hoped to mine Reko Diq, as is Tethyan’s right, the conduct of Pakistan and Balochistan has made that goal impracticable.”

The federal and provincial governments, he said, had not responded to attempts to engage, had prevented Tethyan from participating in the development of a new mining sector in the province, and had denied both the company and the people of Balochistan the enormous benefits that the project would have brought to the country.

“We will pursue our claims for monetary damages, including lost profits for the mining operations, in the international arbitration,” the statement quoted Mr Livesey as saying.

The statement made no mention of the amount to be claimed as compensation.