Argentina looks to draw up strategic mining plan

The Argentine government is working on a strategic plan for mining development as part of efforts to boost the country’s productive sectors. 

The plan, which aims to achieve a consensus around mining policy for the next 30 years, will focus on exports, legal certainty and sustainability, as well as local suppliers. 

Last week, during the first meeting to build a draft of the plan, productive development minister Matías Kulfas listed as the biggest challenges for the sector the need to increase exports and long-term development plans. 

“One of the biggest challenges is related to increasing exports, federal development, long-term development plans, creating a sustainable and responsible mining industry in Argentina, that could also be inclusive and boost local development,” he said in a release. 

According to the Argentine mining information center CIMA, mining exports reached US$2.9bn in 2019 and US$1.1bn during 1H20, but mining authorities target US$10.7bn by 2030. 

Earlier this year, at the annual Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) convention, mining minister Alberto Hensel presented a US$27.2bn portfolio of 33 projects as opportunities to boost investments in the industry. 

The portfolio includes 15 lithium initiatives, seven copper, five gold, four silver, one potash and one uranium, with US$18.8bn in total investment for copper projects. Most of the copper projects are in San Juan province, which was ranked as the second most attractive jurisdiction in Latin America in the 2019 Fraser Institute’s Annual Survey of Mining Companies.  

President Alberto Fernández has repeatedly said mining is an essential industry to provide the foreign exchange the country needs. 

Likewise, Hensel has shown an intention to boost the local industry through the creation of a strong value chain which includes mining suppliers. 

In May, Hensel started a review process of all exploration and expansion projects with representatives from mining companies to know how operations are going during the pandemic. 

Officials from the geological and mining service Segemar, and ministries of environment and sustainable development, as well as industry chambers, unions, mining companies, communities, and academics will contribute to the design of the plan to bolster the sector. 

Photo credit: Josemaría Resources