A remarkable claim has surfaced of a gold reserve worth $636 billion hidden beneath Pakistan’s Tarbela Dam on the Indus River. Former senior vice president of the Pakistan Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Hanif Gauhar, revealed that samples collected from the site confirm the presence of gold. This has prompted urgent discussions between the military and government authorities to explore extraction possibilities.

Tarbela Dam, constructed between 1968 and 1976 in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is the world’s largest earthen dam and a critical source of Pakistan’s electricity generation, supplying 16% of the country’s power.

Despite this recent claim, Pakistan has struggled historically to establish substantive gold finds. Previous assertions include a 2025 claim of valuable gold in Attock district awaiting governmental action, a 2015 discovery in Chiniot that turned out to be iron ore mined in partnership with a Chinese firm, and a 2021 incident where locals dug for gold along the Indus banks, which authorities quickly curtailed after no gold was found.