The United States has announced it will invest $1.3 billion in Pakistan’s Reco Dick mine as part of its “Project Vault.” The project, announced by the State Department on Wednesday, aims to “reshape global markets for critical minerals and rare earths.”
Based on information provided by the State Department, Reco is the only investment outside the United States for “Project Vault” (AP Photo).Located in Balochistan province, Reko Dik is the largest gold and copper deposit in the world. Based on information provided by the State Department, Reco Dick is the only investment outside the United States for “Project Vault.”
Project Vault was announced by Donald Trump on 2 February 2026 as an initiative led by the Chairman of the Export-Import Bank (XIM) of the United States.
Under it, EXIM approved a $10 billion loan for the project, one of the largest in the federal agency’s history.
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In the past year, EXIM has issued $14.8 billion in letters of interest for critical mineral projects for the second Trump administration. For the important minerals portfolio, EXIM has approved several transactions including $1.3 billion in Pakistan.
Other transactions include $10 billion to establish Project Vault, which will serve as a US strategic critical mineral reserve; $27.4 million for titanium, nickel and advanced metal powders in Pennsylvania; $23.5 million for advanced materials and critical metals processing in Tennessee; $15.9 million for zinc mining and production in New York and $11.1 million for titanium processing and production in Virginia.
Among the list, Pakistan is the only non-US mineral investor.
About the Reco Dick MineThe Reco Dick mine in Baluchistan, Pakistan is one of the world’s largest copper and gold reserves. According to the report, the area is estimated to have reserves of 5.9 billion tonnes of ore grading 0.41% copper and 41.5 million ounces of gold.
The Reko Dik area is one of many eroded remnant volcanic centers in the Chagai volcanic chain of mountains, which runs across Balochistan between the Quetta-Taftan Line railway and the border with Afghanistan.
In 2011, the mine was at the center of a legal dispute between Pakistan and the Tethyan Copper Company (TCC), a joint venture between Chile’s Antofagasta and Canada’s Barrick Gold.
The case focused on violations of the Australia-Pakistan Bilateral Investment Treaty and illegal denial of mining rights to TCC.
