The world's fifth largest reserves of gold and copper have been discovered in Chaghi area in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province. According to the Director General of Provincial Department of Mineralogy, Maqbool Ahmed, two Canadian and Chilean multinational companies were granted licenses 10 years ago to explore the Bekodik area for gold. The companies have now completed the exploration work and have outlined a project for the extraction of gold and copper. In the preliminary stage, the two companies will invest a billion U.S. dollars in the project. It is thought that eventually 200,000 tons of copper and 400,000 ounce of gold will be produced annually.