Project Vault: America has announced an investment of $ 1.3 billion in Pakistan’s Reco Deeq Khan. This investment is part of America’s new plan Project Vault. The objective of this scheme is to reshape the market of essential minerals and rare metals across the world.

The US State Department gave this information on Wednesday. Reko Diq, which is located in the Balochistan province of Pakistan, is considered to be one of the largest gold and copper deposits in the world. According to the State Department, under Project Vault, America has invested only in this place outside the country.

Donald Trump had announced in February

Project Vault was announced by Donald Trump on February 2, 2026. This initiative is being run under the leadership of the President of the American Export-Import Bank (EXIM). Under this scheme, EXIM has approved a loan of 10 billion dollars for this project, which is one of the largest loans in the history of this federal agency. In the last one year, EXIM has issued letters of interest worth $14.8 billion for important mineral projects. Many deals have been made under this, which also includes an investment of 1.3 billion dollars in Pakistan.

Other investments in America

Several other investments have also been made in the US under Project Vault:

• A $10 billion plan, which will serve as the 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.
• $11.1 million for titanium processing and manufacturing in Virginia.

Of all these, Pakistan is the only country where America has invested outside its country.

About Reko Deek Khan

Reko Diq Mine, located in Balochistan, Pakistan, is one of the world’s largest copper and gold reserves. According to the report, there are about 5.9 billion tons of ore in this area, which contains 0.41% copper and about 41.5 million ounces of gold. The Reko Diq area is part of the Chagai mountain range of Balochistan, which extends between the Quetta-Taftan railway line and the border with Afghanistan. This area is considered to be one of the old volcanic areas.

History of legal dispute

In 2011, Reco Diq Khan became the center of a major legal dispute. This dispute took place between Pakistan and Thethyan Copper Company (TCC). TCC was a partnership between Chile’s Antofagasta and Canada’s Barrick Gold. The allegation in this case was that the Australia-Pakistan investment agreement was violated and mining rights were wrongly given to TCC.

China is the best friend of Pakistan. However, these days relationships between the two countries do not look normal. This is because Pakistan has decided to seek help from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) instead of China for the advancement of its old railway network. Pakistan has sought a $ 2 billion loan from ADB to improve the Karachi-Rohri railway section. This is the same ML-1 project, which was once considered the biggest and ambitious plan of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

China’s retreat from the project reveals Pakistan’s economic condition concerns. There is a lot of speculation about this, why have they pulled their hands from the Pakistani project in China. However, China has not suddenly decided to withdraw from the project. It is believed that Pakistan’s weak economic situation and problems of repaying debt could have caused trouble for China. China has already invested billions of dollars in Pakistan, where China is facing a serious problem in withdrawing money from Pakistan. Given the pressures of its economy, China is retreating from more risky investments. It is clear that when the financial situation is in danger, then all the weather companions can also retreat.

Importance of raco dik mine and ML-1
Balochistan’s raco, copper and gold mine can prove to be decisive for Pakistan’s economy. It is possible to get a large amount of minerals from the mine, but the old railway line is not so strong that the minerals can be transported on a large scale. For this, it is very important to upgrade the ML-1 railway line to the mine. For this reason, ADB has not only shown interest in the ML-1 project, but has also promised to help $ 410 million for the Reco Dik Khadan.

China, America and ADB
Increasing the role of ADB means that Pakistan no longer wants to depend only on China. According to sources, Pakistan had taken consent from China before this move so that the relationship would not be soured. Pakistani Army Chief Asim Munir said, “We will not sacrifice another friend for one friend.” At the same time, America is also showing interest in Pakistan’s Reco Dikk. This indicates that Pakistan is now moving towards multi -faceted foreign policy, which will include China, America and multilateral institution (ADB, IMF). In recent times, relations between Pakistan and America have been seen getting good, as US President Donald Trump has announced to create a Pakistani oil reserve.

CPEC’s future and Pakistan’s strategy
Between 2015-2019, several highways, power plants and ports were built under CPEC, but the development has slowed down since 2022. Chinese power producers have faced the problem of dues. China’s withdrawal from a big project like ML-1 further clarifies this lethargy. Now the arrival of ADB can be a lot of problem for CPEC.

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