In August 2025, the Pakistani government announced that it will launch an unprecedented global bidding program for mineral resources in the coming months, which is expected to attract investment from multiple countries including the United States, China, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. Pakistan has abundant mineral resources, covering various high-value minerals such as rare earth elements, copper, gold, coal, and iron ore, with a total estimated value of 3 to 5 trillion US dollars. The government aims to effectively attract international capital and technology, fully unleash resource potential, and inject new impetus into national economic growth by simplifying management processes, enhancing policy coordination, and improving transparency.

This measure not only reflects Pakistan's strategic transformation in mineral resource management, but also will become a new focus of global competition in mineral resource development. Currently, Pakistan is pushing for a constitutional revision to centralize the management of mineral resources from local governments at the federal level, in order to improve approval efficiency and investment predictability.

The first stage of the bidding has preliminarily determined the regional allocation plan. China will obtain mineral exploration rights in the Gilgit Baltistan region, which is rich in copper, gold, and various rare minerals. The United States will develop mineral resources in the northern part of Balochistan Province and the southern part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province. In addition, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are conducting in-depth negotiations on the Reko Diq copper gold project in Balochistan province. This deposit is one of the largest undeveloped copper gold mines in the world and has extremely high strategic value. The Pakistani side stated that it will make every effort to safeguard the interests of all winning bidders and provide efficient single window services.

Pakistan's mineral resources are widely distributed, ranging from the desert areas of Balochistan province, high-altitude mountainous regions in the north to the plains of Punjab and Sindh provinces, with extremely abundant mineral resources. With the continuous growth of global demand for key minerals such as rare earth elements and copper gold, Pakistan's resource advantages are becoming increasingly prominent and have become a focus of attention in the international mining market.

To promote this plan, the Pakistani government has committed to further simplifying the legal and administrative procedures related to mining investment, strengthening legal protection and security maintenance, and continuously optimizing the business environment for foreign investment. At present, Pakistan has actively carried out negotiations with China, Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Türkiye, the United Arab Emirates and other countries to accelerate international cooperation in the mining field.

Analysis suggests that Pakistan's opening of mineral resources this time will not only drive foreign investment, promote employment growth and infrastructure construction, but also have the potential to reshape its global mining market position and become an important supplier of rare earths and energy minerals. How to balance the interests of multiple parties and achieve sustainable development of resources will be the key to the success of the plan. (This article is from www.seetao.com, the official website of Daodao, and cannot be reproduced without permission. Otherwise, it will be prosecuted. Please specify the website of Daodao+the original link for reproduction.) See the editor of the the Belt and Road column of Daodao/Yang Beihua