World-class copper mining projects in Argentina
Copper mining in Argentina is, still, in “project mode.” Since the closure of Bajo de la Alumbrera in 2018, the country has not produced a ton of refined copper, but it concentrates a portfolio of deposits that appear in global rankings by size and grade. In that map, the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI) functions as a filter: among all projects, only some meet the scale, the time horizon and the exporter profile the regime requires to obtain tax and foreign-exchange benefits for 30 years.
According to a recent report by the Rosario Board of Trade, mining investments submitted under the RIGI total about $21,953 million, and projects whose primary mineral is copper account for 73% of that total, roughly $16,011 million at stake. The report identifies a subset of “world-class” copper developments that stand out, by size and progress, including Josemaría, Filo del Sol, Taca Taca, Los Azules, Agua Rica (part of the MARA Project) and El Pachón.
The last three —Los Azules, Agua Rica–MARA and El Pachón— have already filed their applications to the RIGI. Los Azules was approved in October, while the projects controlled by Glencore remain under evaluation. According to the Board of Trade, because of their characteristics and an investment volume exceeding $1,000 million each, they fit the category “Proyectos de Exportación Estratégica de Largo Plazo” (PEELP), also known as Strategic Long-Term Export Projects, the regime’s highest tier.
RIGI as a new framework of balance
The RIGI, created by Law 27.742 (“Bases y Puntos de Partida para la Libertad de los Argentinos”) and regulated by Decree 749/2024, establishes a scheme of legal, fiscal and customs stability for 30 years for large-scale investment projects. The regime sets minimum capital thresholds, maximum periods to execute the committed investment and a series of benefits, among them:
- reduction of the corporate income tax rate;
- accelerated depreciation;
- relief from certain duties on imports of capital goods;
- more predictable rules for access to foreign currency and the availability of part of export proceeds.
Argentina’s Federal Tax Agency provides details on these instruments on its microsite.
In mining, the RIGI overlaps with the existing mining fiscal stability regime and expands it: it combines tax and foreign-exchange benefits, relaxes the use of offshore accounts to receive export proceeds and recognizes the possibility of resorting to international arbitration, as highlighted in official documentation. That combination targets projects with high capital intensity, long construction periods and operating lives of two or three decades.
The Resolution 1553/2025 of the Economy Ministry, published in the Official Gazette, formalized Los Azules’ entry into the RIGI and registered it in the Single Project Vehicle Registry, with an eligible investment plan estimated at $2,672 million. It is the first copper project to reach full status under the regime.
Los Azules: first copper project under RIGI
Los Azules is a porphyry copper deposit located in Calingasta, San Juan province, at about 3,500 meters above sea level and a few kilometers from the Chilean border. McEwen Copper, a subsidiary of McEwen Inc. with participation from Stellantis and Nuton–Rio Tinto, controls 100% of the project.
According to the 2025 Feasibility Study, Los Azules is an open-pit mine project producing copper cathode via heap leach and a solvent-extraction–electrowinning (SX–EW) circuit. The study projects an average production of 327 million pounds of copper per year (148,200 metric tons) over a 21-year life, with average production of 204,800 metric tons annually in the first five years.
In geological terms, the company reports:
- Proven and probable reserves: 10.2 billion pounds of copper (≈4.6 million tonnes) contained in 1,024 million tonnes of ore with an average grade of 0.453% Cu.
- Measured & indicated resources: an additional 5.4 billion pounds of copper with an average grade of 0.26% Cu.
- Inferred resources: 20 billion pounds of copper with a grade of 0.21% Cu.
Resolution 1553/2025 recognizes a computable investment plan of $2,672 million under RIGI, to be executed in stages of feasibility, permitting, mine and plant construction and associated infrastructure. The text sets obligations on the percentage of investment that must materialize in the early years and assigns oversight to the Secretariat of Mining.
Based on the Feasibility Study and the company’s price assumptions ($4.35–4.36 per pound of copper), the project falls within the range the company classifies as high-margin: McEwen estimates an after-tax net present value (NPV) of $2,900 million, an internal rate of return (IRR) of 19.8%, and a payback period of 3.9 years.
A notable technical change is the shift in design: from a conventional concentrator plant to a heap-leach scheme powered 100% by renewable energy, supported by a supply agreement with YPF Luz to build and operate a dedicated high-voltage transmission line. This approach reduces fresh-water consumption, eliminates tailings dams and narrows the project’s carbon footprint — factors the company cites as central to enabling international financing.
From a regulatory standpoint, McEwen states that RIGI membership secures 30 years of tax and foreign-exchange stability, exemption from export duties on the copper produced, a reduction of the income tax rate to 25%, accelerated depreciation and facilities for importing capital goods without tariffs, as well as the possibility of maintaining part of export revenue in foreign accounts.
El Pachón: district-scale in San Juan
El Pachón, also in San Juan and controlled by Glencore, is one of the world’s largest porphyry copper systems. According to the “Portfolio of Advanced Projects – Copper 2025” prepared by the National Secretariat of Mining, the project is at the feasibility stage and foresees average production of 280,000 tonnes of copper, 3 million ounces of silver and 9,000 tonnes of molybdenum per year, with a 30-year life.
In an official communication, Glencore specified that El Pachón’s resource totals about 6 billion tonnes of ore with an average grade of 0.43% Cu, plus significant silver and molybdenum content. For development of Phase 1, the company estimated capital expenditure in the range of $8,500–10,500 million, using the midpoint ($9,500 million) as the basis for the RIGI application.
In the same presentation, Glencore frames El Pachón within a regional strategy that seeks, together with Agua Rica–MARA, to produce up to 1 million tonnes of copper per year in Argentina over a 10–15 year horizon. Public comments by Glencore Argentina CEO Martín Pérez de Solay at a Council of the Americas event in Buenos Aires refer to an initial combined step of 500,000 tonnes annually for both projects, with room to double that figure as expansions proceed.
Shale24, by cross-referencing official project portfolio data with the company’s projections, indicates that El Pachón is conceived as a district-scale development: a single mine capable of contributing roughly one-third of the copper production Argentina could reach if the seven major projects referenced in Glencore’s global materials were realized.
Although the Secretariat of Mining has not yet published a specific resolution in the Official Gazette about El Pachón, Glencore’s announcement confirms the project’s RIGI application is filed and under evaluation. In that context, the RIGI PEELP category will be decisive for enabling an investment measured in decades and billions of dollars.
Agua Rica–MARA: reusing Alumbrera
The third pillar of the RIGI copper tripod is Agua Rica, included within the MARA Project (Minera Agua Rica Alumbrera). The deposit, with copper, gold, silver and molybdenum, is in Catamarca and would be combined with Bajo de la Alumbrera’s existing processing plant and infrastructure, now idle.
The MARA project’s official site describes the configuration as a brownfield development: exploiting a new deposit using much of Alumbrera’s installed capacity — concentrator plant, slurry pipeline and port — which reduces capital intensity and construction timelines.
Glencore reported that Agua Rica’s measured and indicated resource totals about 1.2 billion tonnes of ore with average grades of 0.47% of copper, 0.20 g/t of gold, 3.4 g/t of silver and 0.03% of molybdenum.
The Secretariat of Mining’s “Portfolio Copper 2025” assigns Agua Rica–MARA an average production of 533 million pounds per year of copper equivalent (around 240–250 thousand tonnes) over 28 years, with estimated CAPEX of $2,780 million.
In its RIGI submission, Glencore updated that figure and proposed an investment range of $3,500–4,500 million, using the midpoint $4,000 million for the regime. The difference reflects engineering adjustments, cost updates and final integration with Alumbrera’s infrastructure.
From a regulatory standpoint, Agua Rica–MARA shares with El Pachón the status of a project under RIGI evaluation. By investment volume, life of mine and export profile, it also fits the PEELP category identified by the Rosario Board of Trade.
What they imply together for the external balance
Using the official and technical production figures — 148,000 tonnes annually at Los Azules, 280,000 tonnes at El Pachón and roughly 240–250,000 tonnes of copper equivalent at Agua Rica–MARA — the RIGI tripod could provide on the order of 650–700 thousand tonnes of copper per year once the three projects reach full operation.
With reference copper prices in the range of $9,000–10,000 per tonne, that would translate to annual exports on the order of $6,000–7,000 million for just those three deposits, according to Shale24 calculations based on volumes stated in the Portfolio Copper 2025 and corporate disclosures cited. That flow would represent a substantial increase for a country that today, in practice, does not export copper and relies on lithium and gold complexes to generate mining foreign exchange.
The Rosario Board of Trade report estimates that, adding the seven main copper projects in the portfolio, Argentina could reach 2 million tonnes per year of copper production and generate up to $20,000 million in exports within ten years, if all initiatives advance (BCR link above). Los Azules, El Pachón and Agua Rica–MARA concentrate most of that potential capacity and the bulk of capital subject to the RIGI.
On the risk side, analysts highlight three fronts:
- Permits and social license. Although Los Azules has obtained environmental approval for construction and operation, granting servitudes, water concessions and supplemental permits will remain under provincial scrutiny. The same applies to Glencore’s projects in San Juan and Catamarca.
- CAPEX execution. The investment “step” — more than $16,000 million combined — requires long-term financing and the ability to source an increasing share of expenditure from local suppliers, in keeping with RIGI requirements on national content.
- Price window. The three projects are, by design, bets on a copper market tightened by the energy transition and electrification. Achieving the forecast internal rates of return depends on that price window holding when they reach production.
In short, the RIGI does not create Argentine copper, but it orders the board on which the largest-scale projects play. Los Azules, El Pachón and Agua Rica–MARA are, today, the tripod that concentrates the heaviest part of that board: world-class geological resources, committed or under-evaluation investments of more than $16,000 million and export potential that could change the country’s energy and external balance if the works are actually built and operated within the planned timelines.