ISLAMABAD, May 6 (Reuters) - Executives from Saudi

Arabian mining company Manara Minerals are in Islamabad to

continue talks about buying a stake in Pakistan's Reko Diq gold

and copper mine, a Pakistan government document showed on

Monday.

The mine, located in Pakistan's restive southwestern

Balochistan province, is considered one of the world's largest

underdeveloped copper-gold areas by global mining company

Barrick Gold Corp ( GOLD ), which owns the project jointly with

Pakistan.

The Manara officials are part of a large delegation of Saudi

investors and companies that arrived in Islamabad on Sunday,

according to a document seen by Reuters listing officials in the

delegation.

The document listed Manara Minerals' general manager as

wanting to "continue the negotiations on the Reko Diq project".

Barrick has said it will invest up to $10 billion to develop

the project.

Manara Minerals, a joint venture between state-owned Saudi

miner Ma'aden and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment

Fund (PIF), declined to comment.

Pakistan's Petroleum Minister Musadik Malik and Commerce

Minister Jam Kamal said on Monday that the Saudi delegation,

representing three dozen investors and companies, will meet

Pakistani companies to explore investment in sectors including

agriculture, mining, aviation and livestock.

They did not name the Saudi companies.

Manara's acting CEO Robert Wilt told Reuters in an

interview in January that the company was in talks to

potentially buy a stake in the Reko Diq mine.

Bloomberg has reported that Manara was initially interested

in investing $1 billion to take a minority share in the copper

mine.

Malik, the petroleum minister, who was also appointed by

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as a focal person for Saudi

investments, did not respond to a Reuters request for a comment.

The Saudi delegation's trip to Islamabad follows Saudi

Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah's visit

to Islamabad last month, when he was briefed by Pakistani

authorities on various avenues to invest in the country.

Pakistan, which is trying to navigate a path to economic

recovery after securing an IMF bailout, desperately needs

foreign investment to help fight a chronic balance of payments

crisis.