Minerals-hungry US President Donald Trump, who is straining to bring the Ukraine-Russia war to an end so that he is able to access the enormous mineral wealth of these two countries, has now cast his eyes on the mineral wealth of Pakistan, which is said to be US$ 8 trillion in value.
But the greatest deterrent to any FDI in mining in Pakistan is the deteriorating security situation with separatist and Islamic militants on the rampage in mineral-rich Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkwa provinces
And if there is a softening of America’s attitude to Pakistan as a result of the thirst for minerals, its relations with India might develop strains, as India is an implacable enemy of Pakistan. Currently, India is America’s strategic ally in South Asia against China’s ambitions in the region.
Last week, President Trump sent Eric Meyer, a senior official of the Bureau of South and Central Asian Affairs in the State Department to Islamabad to attend an “international minerals investment forum” there. In a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Meyer said US companies were keen to invest in the country’s untapped mineral reserves.
Two days prior to that, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio had called Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar to propose cooperation in mineral extraction.
According to South Asia expert Michael Kugelman, Rep. Jack Bergman, co-chair of the Congressional Pakistan Caucus, had identified minerals as a “key sector” for partnership with Pakistan. Bergman had also travelled to Islamabad last weekend as part of the first congressional delegation to Pakistan since 2023.
China’s recent decision to suspend rare-earth exports gives the US extra reason to explore opportunities in Pakistan, Kugelman points out.
But the Chinese are already there in mineral mining in Pakistan.
In May 2024, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had invited the Chinese firm, “MCC Tongsin Resources”, to invest in Pakistan’s mining sector and assured it of maximum facilitation. MCC Tongsin Resources, a research and investment company, is part of the China Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC Group), which describes itself as the world’s largest and strongest metallurgical construction contractor.
“The company gave a detailed briefing to the prime minister regarding the construction of a mineral park in Pakistan and informed about further investment plans,” Sharif’s office said in a press release.
Ishaq Dar had held several meetings with Chinese business officials and entrepreneurs in China, and invited them to establish “labour-intensive industries” in Pakistan to address the unemployment problem.
As Kugelman points out, China has been one of Pakistan’s most reliable foreign partners, readily providing financial assistance. In July 2023, China granted Pakistan a two-year rollover on a US$ 2.4 billion loan, giving the debt-saddled nation much-needed breathing space. China has invested over US$ 65 billion in energy and infrastructure projects as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
China had stepped in where the US and the West feared to tread because of terrorism and armed insurgencies.
Writing in the journal “Resources Policy” Volume 88, January 2024, Naqib Ullah Khan and his co-researchers say that Pakistan has the 2nd largest coal reserves, 2nd largest salt reserves, and 5th largest copper and gold reserves in the world.
It has 92 discovered minerals. Among them, some have been quantified as coal (185 billion tons), copper (7000 million tons), gold (1658 million tons), salt (10 billion tons), silver (620 million tons), lead-zinc (24 million tons), manganese (1.597 million tons), chromite (3 million tons), and iron ore (1450 million tons).
Pakistan is recognized for the world's 5th copper-gold reserves at Riko Dik, the world's 2nd largest coal reserves at Thar, and the world's 2nd largest salt reserves at Khewra and Bahdarkhel. The world-renowned Tethyan copper belt passes through Balochistan. The world’s total coal potential is estimated at 861 billion tons out of which Pakistan possesses 185 billion tons.
But the current contribution of minerals to the national development fund is less than 2%, the authors say. Compared to other mineral-rich developing nations, Pakistan's mineral export’s share is only around US$ 0.5 billion out of the world’s total US$ 401 billion.
In his speech at the Minerals Forum in Islamabad, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ruled out export of raw minerals and insisted that Pakistan would export only finished products.
Despite the difficulties, several foreign companies signed agreements with Pakistan, including the Canadian firm Barrick Gold, which already owns a 50% stake in the Reko Diq gold mine in south western Balochistan. Pakistan has one of the world’s largest copper and gold deposits in Reko Diq.
However, security will remain foreign investors’ bugbear. Pakistan suffered 521 terrorist attacks in 2024, according to the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS). More than 95% of the attacks were in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa—where, according to official mineral mapping, most of Pakistan’s known mineral deposits are located.
This trend has continued in 2025. Of the 54 terrorist attacks reported in Pakistan in February, 53 were in those two provinces, the PIPS data shows.
The separatist Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is one of Pakistan’s most potent violent outfits. The number of attacks perpetrated by the BLA and other banned Baloch insurgent groups increased by 119% in 2023-2024.
Counterterrorism operations, state crackdowns, and large infrastructure projects in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have angered local communities, the Baloch and the Pathans. These communities have been complaining that they have not been the beneficiaries of development.
Mineral companies could seek troops from their own countries to protect themselves in Pakistan. The Chinese are said to have thousands of their own troops protecting their projects in Pakistan. While Pakistanis have accepted Chinese troops, would they accept US troops?
Prime Minister Sharif’s insistence that foreign investors must refine and process minerals in Pakistan itself is problematic, says Kugelman. Executives from Canada-based Barrick Gold, one of the few foreign mining companies currently operating in Pakistan, have said that there is insufficient cheap and reliable electricity in Pakistan.
Electricity charges are indeed unaffordable in Pakistan. “The Wall Street Journal” said in a detailed report some months ago that this was due to the huge loans taken at high interest rates from the Chinese to build the power plants.