QUETTA: The Balochistan government has rejected reports that Pakistan might face a penalty of $11.5 billion after an international tribunal of the World Bank ruled in favour of Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) in the Reko Diq gold mine case.

A spokesman for the Balochistan government on Monday said the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) had not awarded the verdict and therefore all reports appearing in the media and social media were wrong and misleading.

He said the losses claimed by the TCC, a joint venture between Chile’s Antofagasta and Canada’s Barrick Gold Corporation, were exaggerated and against the ground realities.

The TCC has argued that Pakistan abused its discretion in denying, without any legal basis, the company’s mining application in 2011 after it had spent a substantial amount of money on mining exploration and feasibility studies for around 10 years. Subsequently, the TCC initiated arbitration proceedings before the ICSID against the Pakistan government under a bilateral investment treaty with Australia.

The spokesman said that on behalf of the federal government, Balochistan was contesting the claim at appropriate forum with the help of legal experts.

A team comprising the attorney general for Pakistan and international legal experts was preparing a rebuttal to the TCC claims which would be filed in the next hearing, he said. “The court had already suspended the quantum proceedings on the request of Pakistan.”

He said the provincial government had objected to a member of the tribunal set up under the ICSID and the court had accepted its plea for hearing. He advised the people in general and the media in particular to avoid speculative stories on the issue.

Published in Dawn, July 18th, 2017