Pakistan plans to establish local facilities for processing, refining, and manufacturing mineral products instead of exporting raw mineral resources, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar announced on Thursday.
Addressing the Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum 2026 in Islamabad, Dar said the government aims to develop the country’s entire mineral value chain by attracting investment in mining, technology, processing facilities, energy, transportation, and logistics. He added that the strategy would focus on building domestic industrial capacity rather than simply extracting minerals and shipping them overseas.
Dar highlighted Pakistan’s copper and gold reserves along the Tethyan Metallogenic Belt in the western region, alongside other resources, including iron ore, chromite, lead, zinc, coal, rock salt, marble, gypsum, and gemstones. He said growing global demand for copper and other critical minerals, driven by electric vehicles, battery storage, clean energy, and advanced technologies, presents opportunities for Pakistan to attract international investment.
He also cited the Reko Diq Copper-Gold Project in Balochistan as an example of how international expertise, federal participation, and provincial ownership can support major mining investments. The government aims to use mineral development to diversify exports, expand local manufacturing, create industrial opportunities, and strengthen Pakistan’s economic base.
