QUETTA, Nov 18: The Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) has claimed that Balochistan government’s act of ‘summarily rejecting’ the firm’s application for a mining licence for the Reko Diq deposits not only contravenes the Balochistan Mineral Rules 2002 but also violates the company’s rights under the Chagai Hills Exploration Joint Venture Agreement and the Pakistani law.

In a statement issued on Friday, the TCC said the provincial government’s rejection notice did not address several important issues. However, despite repeated requests by the TCC, the government officials were yet to agree to any meeting to resolve the outstanding issues.

“The GoB (Government of Balochistan) has not responded to requests for meetings to resolve the issue…. The Rejection Notice does not address the detailed submissions in the TCC’s interim response nor does it address the original grounds set forth in the 21st September Notice,” said the statement.

“The Licensing Authority’s summary refusal to grant the Mining Licence to which the TCC is entitled breaches not only the Balochistan Mineral Rules 2002, but also the TCC’s rights under the Chagai Hills Exploration Joint Venture Agreement and the Pakistani law,” the statement added.

It quoted the chief executive officer of the TCC, Tim Livesey, as saying: “We firmly believe that our activities to date have been fully in line with the Balochistan Mineral Rules 2002 and would welcome the opportunity to discuss this with the provincial regulator and government.”

The Reko Diq project had the potential to kick-start the mining sector in the province. It would also attract investments in exploration and mining by independent parties, said the statement.

“Tethyan is committed to developing its mine at Reko Diq in line with international best practices with respect to the environment, labour, health and safety (laws),” added the statement.