The two-day Pakistan Minerals Investment Forum 2026 opens in Islamabad today, Thursday 12 November, bringing together global mining executives, investors, policymakers, financial institutions and technical experts as Pakistan pitches its vast mineral wealth to the world.
Figures checked at 08:04 PKT on 12 November 2026 put the scale of the pitch in plain terms: Pakistan holds an estimated $6 trillion in mineral reserves, including one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits at Reko Diq in Balochistan, the world’s second-largest salt reserves at Khewra, 175 billion tonnes of lignite coal in Thar, and significant deposits of chromite, marble and iron ore.
The forum, known as PMIF26, runs on 12 and 13 November at the Jinnah Convention Centre. It is organised by the Government of Pakistan and endorsed by the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC), with the state-run Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) as its founding partner. The theme is “Pakistan: The Next Critical Minerals Destination”.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar is scheduled to address the opening session alongside the chief ministers of Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, the governor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the prime minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Defence Forces, Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, are among the key speakers across the two days.
The international speaker line-up underlines the forum’s ambition. It includes Robert Friedland, founder and executive co-chairman of Ivanhoe Mines; John L. Thornton, chairman of Barrick Mining Corporation; Patrick Barnes, head of EMEA metals and mining consulting at Wood Mackenzie; Colin James Davies of International Resources Holding; Isabel Chatterton, director general of the Asian Development Bank; and Jarmo Tarkiainen of Metso Middle East.
The opening day focuses on financing early-stage exploration, developing a future-ready mining workforce and women’s participation in the sector. A session on strengthening geological survey collaboration will discuss how data sharing and technical partnerships can reduce exploration risk. Day two features a government dialogue on building investor-ready mining jurisdictions, and the forum closes with remarks from PMIF president and OGDCL chief Ahmed Hayat Lak.
The timing is deliberate. Demand for critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel and rare earths is projected to triple by 2030, driven by electric vehicles, semiconductors and renewable energy. Pakistan is positioning itself as an emerging destination for that investment, building on the momentum of last year’s first forum, PMIF25.
Exhibitors and participants include the Pakistan Mineral Development Corporation, Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Mari Energies, Government Holdings, the Reko Diq Mining Company, Frontier Works Organization, National Resources, Barrick Mining Corporation and the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, alongside more than 50 peer-reviewed technical papers and a workshop on innovation in the mining industry.
The forum also carries a workforce agenda: sessions will address the National Minerals Capability Development Programme, including initiatives led by state-owned enterprises and the presentation of certificates to graduates of its first two cohorts — a sign that Pakistan is trying to build the skilled labour force a mining boom would need.
For Pakistan, the stakes are high. The country’s mineral wealth has long been cited as a sleeping asset, held back by weak geological data, fragmented regulation and a lack of investment. PMIF26 is the government’s attempt to show that the policy framework, the data and the political backing are now in place — and to convert interest into signed deals.
Whether the forum delivers investment commitments or only introductions will become clear over the coming weeks. But with the world’s biggest miners and lenders in the room, and $6 trillion of reserves on the table, Islamabad has rarely had a better stage on which to make its case.
This post is market news information only, not financial advice.
