PESHAWAR: The massive corruption scandal of billions of rupees in placer gold exploration contracts on the banks of the Indus and Kabul rivers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was uncovered by senior journalist Irfan Khan.
In his recent vlog, he has cited documentary evidence that contracts worth Rs 4.92 billion were illegally awarded to favored companies by the KP minerals department despite a clear stay order from the Peshawar High Court.
Not only this, National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has also launched a formal investigation into this serious matter, during which it has come to light that the actual value of the said contracts is much higher than the official bid and that important political figures and top bureaucrats have used their influence to benefit specific companies in the entire process.
According to the details of the scandal, senior journalist Irfan Khan disclosed that contracts were awarded by the KP government and the Department of Minerals to explore gold along the Indus River and the Kabul River, for which a comprehensive survey was conducted between 2012 and 2015 to determine the locations where gold is found.
In light of this survey, the government had fixed an official price for the areas with the highest reserves, after which the bidding process began. According to Irfan Khan, as a result of this auction, the contract for Block A Swabi of the Indus River was awarded to MS Globakor Metals Private Limited for Rs 1.25 billion. Similarly, the contract for Block B, also located in Swabi was awarded to MS Machko Private Limited for Rs 1.26 billion.
Similarly, the contract for Block C, comprising the districts of Nowshera and Kohat, was awarded to MS Himalayan Earth Exploration Private Limited for Rs 1.305 billion, while the contract for Block D, falling within the boundaries of Kohat district, was awarded to MS Shakardara Minerals Private Limited for Rs 1.111 billion. The total value of the contracts for these four blocks is Rs 4.92 billion.
According to a senior journalist, the Peshawar High Court had issued a stay order due to concerns over serious violations of laws during the allotment of these contracts. However, completely ignoring this stay order, the Licensing Authority issued allotment letters on November 13, 2024.
According to the letters issued by NAB, the agreements for these blocks were not signed within the stipulated period, but despite this, allotment letters were issued and illegal permission was given to the lease holders to work, after which more than 1500 excavators were found working illegally in these areas.
Moreover, the successful bidders did not submit the environmental impact report and proper mining plan to the department as per the mining rules. The journalist revealed that the NAB, while taking action on this matter, had sought all relevant records and details from the Department of Minerals on July 17, 2025.
The NAB investigation has raised the question of why the Geological Study 2015 and Mineral Auction Rules 2022 were ignored during the estimation of the reserve prices of Block A and on whose request the Geological Survey Study, which was started in February 2022, was stopped in November 2022, which had a negative impact on the accurate estimation of placer gold reserves. The investigation is also looking into why the past auctions held in 2020, 2021 and 2023 failed and why their publicity was deliberately kept substandard.
According to a senior journalist, the investigation by NAB to identify the ministers and bureaucrats involved in this corruption scandal has now entered its final stage, where all those characters are being exposed who caused billions of rupees in loss to the national exchequer by disregarding rules and laws.
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