US co plans $200m pink salt facility in Pakistan

A leading American company plans to invest nearly $200 million in curating, processing, distributing, and importing pink Himalayan salt from Pakistan, officials said.

The Miracle Saltworks Collec­tive Inc (MSCI) conveyed its interest to the Ambassador of Pakistan Masood Khan at a meeting in Washington on Friday and shared their investment plans with him.

An embassy official told journalists that the company was willing to invest in the entire process — from mining to bringing it to the United States.

The company will also prepare feasibility and reserve reports and will upgrade mining procedures and processes. The plan includes the construction of a world-class processing and packaging facility at the mining site and community development programmes.

Pakistan has huge reserves of pink salt with a potential earning of $12 billion annually. An embassy press release said the country possesses approximately 22.22 billion tonnes of the natural resource, concentrated mostly in Salt Range areas of Kala Bagh, Warcha, Khewra and Bahadur Khel. “The salt mines have an immense potential of kick-starting massive economic activity in the country,” the statement added.

The delegation included the company’s president and CEO Ahmed N. Khan, Vice President Mr. Tad M. Ballantyne, and members of its governing board.

Currently, Pakistan is earning only $70 million a year from this unique natural resource due to the lack of a policy framework and the absence of adequate facilities for processing, packaging and distribution.

Briefing the ambassador, President MSCI Ahmed N. Khan said that a multi-pronged solution, featuring public-private partnership under a clearly defined policy was being worked out to assist the government in enhancing pink salt exports.

The new policy would also encourage the private sector to take a lead role in exploiting the existing potential.