The CEO of Barrick Gold, the company that is a major stakeholder and owner of the Reko Diq project in Balochistan, one of the largest copper and gold reserves in the world, when asked by an exiled Baloch activist about the reservation of local communities over the project, told him to “go back to Balochistan”, refusing to address the concerns raised.
Human rights activist Lateef Johar Baloch had asked Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow about signing an agreement related to the Reko Diq mine without the consent of the local communities.
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Today, @LateefJohar, Pakistani human rights defender, questioned @barrickgold‘s CEO Mark Bristow re: the push to open the Reko Diq mine without the consent of surrounding communities.
Bristow ended the heated exchang saying Lateef should “go back to Balochistan.” pic.twitter.com/vBhafF0EFZ— Earthworks (@Earthworks) May 2, 2023
Barrick Gold owns 50 per cent shares of “one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold projects in the world”, according to the mining corporation’s website.
25% of the shares are owned by three federal state-owned enterprises, while only 15% is owned by Balochistan on a fully funded basis and 10% on a free carried basis.
Lateef Johar Baloch asked Bristow a question related to the Canadian mining company not addressing the reservations of locals while signing the Reko Diq deal during a company’s shareholder meeting.
However, Bristow ended the conversation by telling the activist to “go back to Balochistan”.
After Bristow’s remarks, the human rights defender tweeted that he was “shocked” by the incident.
Lateef Johar Baloch said that Bristow “used my refugee status to discredit and undermine me in front of his shareholders when I spoke the truth and asked question about their secretive deal with an illegitimate govt to mine in my homeland”.
I was shocked when Mark Bristow, the CEO of @BarrickGold, used my refugee status to discredit and undermine me in front of his shareholders when I spoke the truth and asked question about their secretive deal with an illegitimate govt to mine in my homeland, #Balochistan. pic.twitter.com/qa6aOTbS2s
— Lateef Johar Baloch (@LateefJohar) May 2, 2023
