The Mining Secretary Fernanda Avilastated that the activity mining in Argentina it had an “exponential leap” in recent years and envisioned “very positive projections” for the sector, especially in lithium and copper, “two minerals that the country has in abundance.”
“Mining in our country has had an exponential leap in recent years, mainly due to the focus on the transition towards clean energy, and Argentina has the minerals for this energy transition and for decarbonization, in order to meet the carbonization goals of countries”Ávila pointed out in statements to Télam Radio.
In that scenario, The official stressed the importance of lithium and copper, two minerals in which “many investments have been seen in recent years.”
Ávila recalled that Argentina does not produce copper since 2018, when the closure of the Bajo de la Alumbrera deposit in Catamarca was completed, although he stressed that there are “important copper projects also in the pipeline and in very advanced stages.”
“One already has construction permits in San Juan, the José María project, and others distributed among the provinces of Salta, Catamarca and San Juan”, he detailed. One of them is the MARA project, that arises precisely from the integration of mining activity in Under the Alumbrera and the new deposit of copper and gold rich waterlocated about 35 kilometers away, in the heart of Catamarca, about 400 km away from the provincial capital.
Despite MARA will use the infrastructure of Alumbreraan investment in the construction of US$2,996 million until 2026 with more than 3,500 new jobs and some u$s1,098 million more during the operation, with another 1,000 permanent people. The goal is for 90% of the staff to be local. In total, for the MARA project, disbursements are estimated for u$s4,049 million
Lithium, from boom to reality
As for the lithium, Ávila added that there are “very important projects under development, six under construction, two expanding their productive capacity and that directly affects job creation.” In this regard, he specified that “in the last 28 months there has been sustained employment growth, with more than 37,000 jobs in Argentina, almost close to 38,000.”
For this reason, the Mining Secretary stated that “the projections for the sector are very positive”, beyond the fact that “mineral prices are very volatile.”
In this sense, he pointed out that the difficulties that may arise when disembarking investments are that they are processes of “very long term, very high amounts and very risky”.
However, Ávila confided that Argentina is today “before a window of opportunity for the energy transition, which allows the country’s enormous potential to be developed in a sustainable, sustainable manner and following all international parameters, demands and standards” compared to Chile and Peru, those who considered the “number 1 and 2 copper producers in the world”.
They affirm that the profits of the main mining companies in the world climbed 126%
Lastly, referring to the doubts that are manifested around mining production, the official mentioned the creation of the Open Information System for the Community on Mining Activity in Argentina (Siacam), which allows free access “to find all information on mining projects in the country, environmental and employment indicators”, among others.
“Mining is an industry that is a bit distant to us, difficult to understand because it occurs in towns that are very far from the core or central areas, and that is why it generates fears and uncertainties; but that must be banished from the country and talk more about mining to understand how the industry develops and its standards”, he reflected on the matter.
Ávila added: “The important thing is to generate all the information and make it available to the community so that they are also part of the conversation about how we want to develop mining in the country and that they are also part of the controls around it.”
Source: Ambito
