Pakistan signs a $500 Million Mineral Deal with USSM in the White House

The move was symbolic and bordering on the cinematic: Pakistan Field Marshal Asim Munir, alongside Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, handed Donald Trump a stunningly crafted box full of precious gems and exotic earth minerals at the White House. At first glance, it was a display of diplomacy, a show of affection. But beneath the ritualistic transaction lay something far bigger — the beginning of a $500 million mineral export contract with United States Strategic Metals (USSM).

This deal involves some of the world’s most prized assets: antimony, copper, gold, tungsten, and rare earth elements — the minerals that propel defense industries to renewable energy. For Washington, it is about diversification of the most critical supply lines. For Islamabad, it is a chance to extend economic opportunity.

But beneath the political theatrics and economic headlines is a seedier reality.

An $8 Trillion Fortune Buried in Pakistan’s Soil

The mineral wealth of Pakistan is not only vast — it’s vast. Experts estimate its worth at nearly $8 trillion, from the deserts of Balochistan mountains to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa valleys. These lands contain the key to the future of technology, energy, and defense manufacturing for the world.

But meanwhile, for decades now, these riches have lain dormant or have accumulated in the coffers of multinational corporations, often failing to provide good fortune to the inhabitants who live over them.

The Neglected Stewards of the Earth

While the deals are being struck in air-conditioned suites in Washington and Islamabad, the inhabitants who live where these minerals are found are faced with a different reality.

In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, residents endure military checkpoints, security sweeps, and institutional underdevelopment. Roads remain poor, schools are few, and hospitals lack even rudimentary amenities. Mineral riches for the Pashtun and Baloch commoners is not an opportunity — it is an etching of exclusion.

The irony is stark: billions worth of minerals are extracted, dollars flow into the coffers of the rich, but families struggle to obtain bread.

History Repeats Itself

This mineral deal is nothing new; it is a new wave of an old trend. Right from the colonial era till this day, resource-rich regions in Pakistan have had their riches stolen from beneath them while they remained deprived of development. Whether it was Sui gas, Reko Diq gold, or Thar coal, the story remains the same: the resources are exploited, the profits siphoned off, and the local voices silenced.

The new $500 million agreement threatens to be yet another chapter in this long history. Unless rules are specified so that revenue-sharing and community development are equitable, this deal can increase the state of distrust between the state and underdeveloped areas.

Diplomacy or Dispossession?

Yes, Pakistan does need foreign investment. Yes, minerals must be harnessed for development. But the question is — growth for whom?

Will the wealth of minerals provide employment for locals, construct schools in Quetta, finance hospitals in Waziristan, or deliver clean water in Gwadar? Or will it simply power elite lifestyles in Islamabad and Lahore while the realms of Pashtun and Baloch continue to symbolize poverty in the midst of abundance?

If Pakistan wants this $500 million deal to be the beginning of real development, equity and transparency must be the shape. Local communities must be stakeholders, not spectators. Development funds must flow directly into KP and Balochistan. And above all, history’s mistakes cannot be repeated.

For now, the glowing box being handed over to Trump can represent friendship and potential. But for those on hard earth where such minerals are being extracted, it represents something different: the fear that yet again, their country’s riches will end up filling other people’s pockets, while their hands remain empty.

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