- The NBA concerned a minimum price set for the auctions of the gold blocks.
- Tenants openly engaged in sublet: NAB.
- KP Govt sells Placers gold blocks at high prices: Gandapur.
The National Board National Bureau (NAB), expressing solid reserves on the minimum price set for the auctions of gold blocks along the Industry and Kabul rivers, said the province underwent losses of a value of the billions. He also exposed irregularities during gold exploration operations.
According to official documents from the provincial government, NAB maintains that the bays openly engage in sublet and invoice 500,000 rupees at 700,000 rupees per week. Their weekly income is estimated between 750 million rupees and 1 billion rupees, amounting to billions of billions, while the government receives only meager amount.
Head Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Ali Amin Gandapur has said that his government sells the Placeur Blocs at auction at high prices. Previously, the price of a single block auction had reached 650 million rupees, but its government set the minimum price at RS1.10 billion and sold four blocks for around 4.6 billion rupees for ten years. Over the past 20 years, no auction has taken place and people had illegally extracted gold, he said.
The chief minister said that the project had been announced two to three times, but that the offers were weak. His government has sold it at higher rates. He asked why the study started in 2023 was arrested and which arrested him.
He said that during the auction, a letter was sent to the NAB and that one of his officers was also present. He said that all legal requirements were met. The CM said operations continue to stop illegal extraction.
According to the documents available, during a high -level meeting held at the NAB headquarters on August 7 and the presence of senior provincial officials, including the chief secretary KP and the Minerals secretary, the NAB survey revealed that the reserve price of the gold blocks was deliberately calculated. The 2015 study of the National Center for Excellence in Geology, Peshawar, which had identified gold reserves from 0.21 to 44.15 grams per tonne, was also ignored. Instead of following the KP 2022 auction rules, the ministry intervened for the benefit of specific tenderers.
In addition, the geological cartography project launched in 2022 for new estimates of mineral resources was interrupted in November 2023 that in the event of a placeur gold, which raised suspicions of deliberate concealment. Previous auctions had also failed due to poor advertising that failed to attract international investors.
The documents show under auction rules, if an agreement is not finalized within 14 days, the offer must be withdrawn. However, despite delays in months, contracts and award letters were issued. The mining operations even continued in November 2024 despite a suspension prescription from the High Court of Peshawar.
The NAB has highlighted the serious violations of bays, such as not carrying out environmental impact assessments, not obtaining CNOs at the environmental protection agency, not installing power plants, and not following operating regimes, and not subject production or sale files, dangerously using mercury and illegally employing unqualified minors.
According to the NAB, more than 1,500 excavators operate illegally in the region. Tenants charge 500,000 rupees to 700,000 rupees per excavator each week, earning 750 million rupees at 1.05 billion rupees per week. It is estimated that thousands of billion have already been won, while the government is only paid for a token amount.
Originally published in the news
