LAHORE: Pakistan has launched a $150million minerals processing complex in Punjab in collaboration with Saudi-based Anfal Group, a private industrial company, aiming to reduce chemical imports and expand mineral-based exports.
The initiative is being facilitated through the provincial government of Punjab and Pakistan’s Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) — a powerful civil-military body established in 2023 to fast-track foreign investment in key sectors such as mining, agriculture, energy, and information technology. The council brings together civilian ministries, the military, and provincial governments to streamline decision-making and reduce bureaucratic delays in large-scale projects.
The new complex is part of Pakistan’s push to attract foreign investment into its underdeveloped mineral sector. The project is expected to save Pakistan approximately $2.9 billion annually by substituting chemical imports and will create new export opportunities for processed minerals, including rock salt.
“The project will… open new opportunities for the export of key chemicals, including rock salt,” Radio Pakistan reported.
The Anfal Group’s engagement marks one of the first foreign-led projects under the SIFC’s investment umbrella in the minerals sector.
Based in Saudi Arabia, Anfal specializes in industrial chemicals, construction materials, and salt processing. Its entry into Pakistan aligns with Islamabad’s broader strategy to partner with Gulf investors in value-added resource development.
With global demand rising for critical minerals, Pakistani officials hope such partnerships will help transform the sector from a largely extractive industry into one that generates jobs, revenue, and export earnings through processing and value addition.
Pakistan holds untapped mineral reserves worth an estimated $6 trillion, including copper, gold, lithium, coal, rock salt, and iron ore. Despite this, the sector contributes just 3.2 percent to GDP, and mineral exports account for less than 0.1 percent of global trade.
The country produces around 68 million tones of minerals annually, yet value addition remains minimal, with most raw materials exported without processing. Notable reserves include the massive Reko Diq copper and gold mine in Balochistan, which is being developed by Canada’s Barrick Gold in partnership with Pakistani state entities.
Pakistan also hosts the world’s second-largest salt mines, significant coal reserves in Sindh’s Thar region, and emerging lithium deposits in northern Gilgit-Baltistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
In April, Pakistan hosted its first Minerals Investment Forum, where the government unveiled the National Minerals Harmonization Framework 2025, intended to streamline licensing, regulation, and investment facilitation in the extractives sector.
