NRL receives licence for exploration of minerals in Chagai

KARACHI: The National Resources Limited (NRL) has received an exploration lease for minerals in Chagai district, Balochistan.

The NRL, which is a subsidiary of YB Pakistan Limited, Reliance Commodities (Private) Limited and Liberty Mills Limited has been leased out an area of 500 sq km in Chagai area.

The NRL had applied for lease in early 2022 and the lease has been issued after fulfilling all legal and other formalities.

The project when materialised will attract major investment in mining and will also generate direct and indirect employment opportunities for people in Pakistan, especially Balochistan. Subject to feasibility, the NRL will attempt to refine the product locally before being exported.

The NRL has received NOCs from Environmental as well as Forest & Wildlife department, enabling it to start the exploration activities. The NRL board has approved an exploration plan, and currently, exploration resources are being hired to start the physical activities soon.

NRL spokesman said the company plans to hire all its human resources from within Pakistan, especially from Balochistan. We also plan to hire a major foreign consultancy firm to supervise the entire exploration activities. Foremost assignment of this foreign consultancy would be to train the local engineers to make them capable of handling such exploration activities on their own.

The NRL is confident that this award will encourage many other Pakistani domestic companies to venture into the mining sector.

The Mining sector has been picked up as one of priority areas to revive our ailing economy and the SIFC has developed a road map to revamp and streamline the whole Mining chain from seeking to apply for a mine lease right up to delivering a value added product.

We aim to match SIFC’s vision that mining activities and resulting exports should contribute to at least 5% of the national GDP. The NRL would like to thank the Government of Balochistan and SIFC for this lease award.

The NRL is devising a comprehensive CSR plan for the neighbourhood communities so that locals could benefit from the economic activities in the region. The company has already commenced with construction of a model NRL compound in the area, including a school, play area, clinic, and an RO plant.

This programme will be further implemented in our neighborhood, together with our exploration activities, and will be accelerated in due course. We believe that mining will only be successful if people of the area become direct beneficiaries of the economic activities, spokesman said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023