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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has dispatched its first ever shipment of rare earth and critical minerals to the United States (US), a Chicago-based US public relations (PR) firm said this week, following a landmark $500 million deal between the two countries.

The development comes weeks after American firm US Strategic Metals (USSM) and Pakistan’s Frontier Works Organization (FWO) signed the agreement for collaboration across a range of critical minerals essential for the defense, aerospace and technology industries.

The agreement was signed between American firm US Strategic Metals (USSM) and Pakistan’s Frontier Works Organization (FWO) at the Prime Minister’s House in Islamabad, according to the US embassy in Islamabad.

It aimed to create a framework for joint development of the entire mineral value chain, including exploration, beneficiation, concentrate production and eventual establishment of refineries in Pakistan.

“In a historic milestone for bilateral cooperation, Pakistan has successfully delivered its first batch of enriched rare earth elements and critical minerals to US Strategic Metals (USSM) in the United States,” PR Newswire, an American public relations firm headquartered in Chicago, said this week.

“This achievement inaugurates a $500 million partnership framework, signed earlier this month, and signals the beginning of a new chapter in the Pakistan–US strategic partnership.”

In this first shipment, Pakistan has indigenously sourced and prepared antimony, copper concentrate, rare earth elements with neodymium and praseodymium, strategic and economic significance, according to the PR firm.

With this first delivery and a multi-phase investment framework underway, Pakistan is now positioned as a rising force in the global critical mineral economy.

“We see this as the first step in our exciting journey together with the Frontier Works Organization of Pakistan to provide critical minerals to the United States and bolster economic trade and friendship between our two countries,” USSM CEO Stacy W. Hastie was quoted as saying.
 

COLOMBO: Pakistan captain Fatima Sana won the toss and elected to bowl in the women’s cricket World Cup match against archrival India at R. Premadasa Stadium on Sunday.

The captains did not shake hands during the toss amid political tensions between the two South Asian neighbors, a trend carried over from the recently concluded men’s Asia Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

India has accused Pakistan of being involved in attacks on tourists that killed dozens. Islamabad denies it.

India men’s team captain Suryakumar Yadav refused to shake hands with his Pakistani counterpart in the first preliminary-round match between the two sides, prompting Pakistan to threaten to boycott the game. Commentators and fans blamed both sides for behaving against the spirit of the game during the tournament.

India and Pakistan ended up progressing to the tournament final, which ended in acrimonious fashion after India captain Yadav refused to accept the winner’s trophy from Asian Cricket Council chief Mohsin Naqvi, who is also Pakistan’s interior minister.

In Sunday’s game, India’s Amanjot Kaur, who made a half-century in the tournament opener against Sri Lanka, has been ruled out due to illness. Pakistan made one change from the side that lost to Bangladesh, bringing in Sadaf Shamas in place of Omaima Sohail.