world. It has the potential to produce 250,000 ounces of gold and 200,000 tons of copper every year for more than half a century and could be in production by 2027. It was estimated that the project site contains up to 42 million ounces of gold and 54 billion pounds of copper in a study done in 2010. The mineral deposit was discovered at the foot of an extinct volcano in the 2000s. Work on the project was stopped in 2011 when a mining license to develop the Reko Diq mine was refused to be granted by Pakistani authorities. Ownership of the mine is to be split evenly between Pakistan and Barrick, which are investing about $10 billion in the project, which is the single largest investment in the country. About 8,000 jobs are expected to be created and about $1 billion will be invested in a new mining technical school along with hospital, schools and roads in the province of Balochistan, which is poor and sparsely populated. Construction of the mine will take place in two phases beginning with a processing plant with the capacity of 40 million tonnes per year and doubling five years after being commissioned. The federal government of Pakistan and provincial government of Baluchistan have called the agreement with Barrick Gold to develop the Reko Diq copper-gold project the largest investment pact they have ever made. The agreement signed in December 2022 has the province of Baluchistan owning 10% of the project on a free carried basis, 15% on a fully funded basis, 25% by three state-owned enterprises, and 50% by Barrick Gold. Next steps to ramp-up the project include completing the updated feasibility study by the end of 2024 with first production of gold and copper to occur in 2028. Berkshire Hathaway Berkshire Hathaway disclosed that it purchased $562 million in shares of Barrick during the second quarter of 2020, immediately making it the eleventh-largest shareholder in the company. The new position is 20.9 million shares, which is 1.2% of the company's outstanding stock. Berkshire CEO Warren Buffett and his key business partner Charlie Munger have a history of dismissing gold as an attractive investment, saying a fine business run by good managers with cash flows and paying dividends is more productive than the precious metal. Buffett has previously said owning shares of quality companies is more valuable than owning gold itself. Buffett later