"Society: In a gold rish, vanishing waters", 29 June 2025

The mountainous town of Kachao is situated in the farthest corner of the Balochistan province, in district Chagai... [it] is also home to the multibillion-dollar copper and gold Reko Diq project which, according to a recent feasibility study, has estimated deposits worth over $60 billion...

Due to legal, security and ownership issues, the mines are said to start production only by 2028 [but] there is a more pressing concern for the residents... Kachao is known for its freshwater springs, says local Hameed Baloch. “But we are worried that our water is being used for the mining project, depleting our reserves,”...

The town’s population... is dependent on agriculture and livestock, which makes the water crisis an existential issue....

In the mineral-rich deserts of Balochistan’s Chagai, multibillion-dollar mining projects promise prosperity. But for villages such as Kachao and Talaap, the reality is vanishing water, barren fields and broken promises…

Barrick Gold, the Canadian firm that has 50 percent stake in the project … asserts that independent studies have confirmed the groundwater isn’t connected to surface ecosystems and the project won’t stop others from using the basin in the future.

Khuda Baksh Baloch, a local farmer, says the water level in Talaap has gone down... Most locals... echo Khuda Baksh’s concerns, complaining of poor crops and water quality as well as infrastructural issues... [An] elderly matriarch from Talaap [said]... “There is nothing here for us to survive on... Our lands and livestock have been destroyed by the consumption of saline water..."