QUETTA: Pakistan will sign an agreement to lease out the Saindak Copper-cum-Gold Project for the third time to Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) on Oct 16 in Beijing.

The federal cabinet approved the extension of the lease for another five years last week after the Balochistan government issued a no-objection certificate. The previous lease is due to expire on Oct 17.

Official sources told Dawn on Monday that Raziq Sanjrani, head of Saindak Metals Ltd, and MCC Chairman Zhu Jianhui will sign the agreement.

The Chinese company plans to start work on the north ore body of the Saindak site, which will be completed in the next four and a half years.

The project is going to be leased out on the same conditions that were set by the federal government at the time of the second lease agreement signed in 2012.

“No new condition was added in the third contract,” an MCC official said.

The federal government gets a 50 per cent share in the profit of the Saindak project while the rest goes to the Chinese company. Of its 50pc share, the federal government keeps 20pc profit and passes on 30pc earnings to the provincial government.

In addition, Balochistan receives a 5pc royalty over the Saindak copper-cum-gold project.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2017