Reporting snapshot · 17 October 2026 (Asia/Karachi). The Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum (PMIF26) is scheduled for 12-13 November in Islamabad, with the Reko Diq copper-gold project now targeted for first production by the end of 2028 and a US Strategic Metals polymetallic refinery in scoping. This article draws on the original reporting by The Express Tribune's Zafar Bhutta and on the Associated Press of Pakistan wire as carried by Pakistan Today; the September 2025 FWO-US Strategic Metals memoranda remain the most recent binding instruments on the US side. Where figures diverge between the two outlets or have not been independently verified, this article attributes the claim rather than choosing the larger number.
What happened
Pakistan will hold the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum (PMIF26) on 12-13 November 2026 in Islamabad, after rescheduling the event from its original 8-9 April dates, The Express Tribune and Pakistan Today reported on 17 October. The forum is the government’s flagship platform for pitching Pakistan’s mineral potential to international investors, mining companies and lenders, and it will land a year after PMIF25 drew 5,000 delegates from more than 50 countries, 16 memoranda of understanding and 18 panel discussions.
The Express Tribune reported the news in a piece by its correspondent Zafar Bhutta, citing officials and drawing on Pakistan Today, which said the article drew on initial reporting from the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) wire. The two outlets frame the same underlying story: that Pakistan is now explicitly targeting United States investment in mineral-rich Balochistan despite continuing security risks, and that Reko Diq, the country’s flagship copper-gold project, has been moved to a phased development with first production now expected by the end of 2028.
The Tribune story also restates the government’s mineral-reserve estimate of roughly $8 trillion across about 600,000 square kilometres, attributed by both outlets to the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan (ICMA). The ICMA figure, first circulated by ICMA earlier this year and cited in multiple government briefings, has not been independently audited and is best read as an order-of-magnitude estimate rather than a market valuation.
Why it matters
Pakistan’s mining sector has historically contributed less than 3% of gross domestic product, according to ICMA. The institute estimates that improved governance and security could lift annual mineral exports from about $3 billion to $8 billion and add roughly three percentage points to GDP growth. PMIF26 is, in effect, the government’s attempt to convert geological potential into bankable projects, a step that Pakistan’s earlier minerals forums struggled to make.
Reko Diq sits at the centre of the pitch. The copper-gold deposit in Balochistan’s Chagai district is one of the world’s largest undeveloped reserves. It is a joint venture between Canada’s Barrick Mining, which holds 50%, the Balochistan government with 25%, and three federal state-owned enterprises with the remaining 25%. In February 2025, Barrick announced completion of an updated feasibility study estimating a 37-year mine life, total capital investment of $8.83 billion and probable reserves of roughly 3 billion tonnes, containing an estimated 15 million tonnes of copper and 26 million ounces of gold. First production is now targeted for the end of 2028, with Phase-1 alone requiring $5.6-6.0 billion in capital.
The Tribune and Pakistan Today also highlighted the United States’ growing financial footprint. The US Export-Import Bank approved $1.25 billion in financing in December 2025, with the US embassy saying it could unlock up to $2 billion in American mining-equipment and services exports and support roughly 13,500 jobs across the two countries. International lenders have assembled a financing package exceeding $2.6 billion for Reko Diq, with the Asian Development Bank approving $410 million in August 2025 and the International Finance Corporation and World Bank approving a $700 million concessional loan in June 2025. KhabarWire [covered Pakistan’s earlier US EXIM request in September.
The United States is also being courted for downstream processing. On 8 September 2025, Pakistan’s Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) and Missouri-based US Strategic Metals (USSM) signed two memoranda covering the development and processing of critical minerals, including rare-earth elements, and logistics services. The Prime Minister’s Office said the partnership would begin with the export of antimony, copper, gold, tungsten and rare-earth elements, and would lay the groundwork for a USSM polymetallic refinery in Pakistan producing intermediate and finished products for the US market. The first phase envisages investment of approximately $500 million. The Tribune said no US company is currently operating in Balochistan.
Pakistan’s broader critical-minerals push is not limited to copper and gold. In July, the state-run Oil and Gas Development Company Limited [confirmed a lithium find in high-temperature geothermal brines at concentrations it said were comparable to leading global brine projects, adding a separate lithium-and-lithium-adjacent track to the country’s critical-minerals portfolio. Earlier KhabarWire reporting on security in the region documented an attack on a Saindak mineral convoy near Noshki in May 2026, underscoring the operational risks that any new investor will weigh.
What is still uncertain
The most important unknown is whether the November forum converts interest into signed projects. PMIF25 produced MoUs but no headline binding deals; PMIF26’s marketing emphasises project development, exploration technology and value addition, but it remains a forum, not a procurement event. Federal Minister for Energy (Petroleum Division) Ali Pervaiz Malik has framed it as a way to raise awareness about mining and to attract sustainable investment, but neither the Tribune nor Pakistan Today quoted any advance commitments from US, Chinese or Gulf investors for the November dates.
Security is the other open question. The Express Tribune noted that a Canadian firm earlier delayed work at Reko Diq because of the start of the US-Iran war, and that Pakistan is now urging Washington to lead investment in Balochistan despite the security risks. The article did not detail how those risks have changed since the May convoy attack or whether new protective arrangements have been agreed for Reko Diq’s workforce. The September 2025 FWO-USSM MoUs are also only a framework; no binding implementation timetable, capital schedule or procurement milestones have been published for the proposed polymetallic refinery.
The ICMA mineral-reserve estimate of $8 trillion is itself an order-of-magnitude figure, not an audited valuation. Both outlets cite the same number, but neither explains the underlying methodology. Realising even a fraction of that estimate depends on turning exploration data, infrastructure, financing and environmental safeguards into deliverable projects — the wider ecosystem that Pakistan’s policy documents say is still being built. Readers should treat PMIF26 as a statement of intent, not yet a statement of delivery.
Sources & reporting notes
This is a synthesis of published material, not eyewitness reporting. Sources were reviewed on 17 October 2026.
- The Express Tribune — Govt seeks US investment in mineralsPublished 17 October 2026 · The PMIF26 forum's rescheduled dates, the federal minister's framing, the Reko Diq equity structure, the Barrick feasibility study figures, the FWO-USSM September 2025 MoUs, the ADB/IFC/World Bank/EXIM financing package and the security-risk caveats attributed to a Canadian firm's delay at Reko Diq.
- Pakistan Today — Pakistan eyes $8tr 'Mineral Bonanza' as global demand fuels investment pushPublished 17 October 2026 · The ICMA $8 trillion mineral-reserve estimate, the broader Wood Mackenzie and IEA copper-demand forecasts, the EU Critical Raw Materials Act context, and additional detail on the USSM polymetallic refinery and Phase-1 $500 million investment figure. The article notes that the initial reporting drew on the Associated Press of Pakistan wire.
- Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan — ICMAThe professional body whose $8 trillion mineral-reserve estimate, $3-8 billion export range and sector-share calculations are cited by both The Express Tribune and Pakistan Today. The figure has not been independently audited; it is used here as the official estimate rather than as a market valuation.
