The government is accused of awarding an exploration contract to foreign companies for a knockdown price.

The court is taking serious notice of irregularities, which was pointed out by a petitioner, and served notices both to the government and provincial government of Balochistan.

Supreme Court advocate Tariq Asad filed the petition under Article 184(3) of Pakistan’s constitution. He claimed that giving away the contracts of the mines to foreign companies at reduced prices was tantamount to treason.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had been asked to order the federal and provincial governments to renegotiate the Reko-Diq contracts, set to expire in the last week of this month.

Terming the sale of Reko-Diq mines as the last chance for saving the country from foreign exploiters, Asad had said that Pakistan should get an 80 percent share in the company, which would own the rest.

Former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz awarded the original contract to foreign companies in 2006. Later on, the Zardari government expressed its desire to change the terms of the contract.

The contract was then awarded to Tethyan Copper Company Pakistan (Pvt.) Limited, which made plans for an initial investment of 3.3 billion dollars in the gold and copper mining project.

The area under consideration for mining runs lies on the Tethyan belt, a major zone for minerals that extends across central and southeast Europe, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and through the Himalayan region into Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

The site holds reserves of 2.2 billion tons of gold and copper.

Reko-Diq is a small town in Chaghi district in a desert area near the site where Pakistan had conducted nuclear tests back in 1998.

International geologists say Reko Diq has proven reserves worth over $2.6 billion.

On Friday night, former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, addressing a large number of Pakistanis in New York, stated: “Only Reko Diq gold and copper can salvage Pakistan from its current economic crisis.”