During 2025, the Large Investment Incentive Regime, known by its Spanish acronym RIGI, consolidated itself as the main vehicle channeling the most significant investments of recent years in Argentina’s energy and mining sectors.
Now, however, only seven months remain to submit new projects. The regulations for the regime, published in August 2024, granted just two years for enrollment. July 2026 is emerging as the deadline to apply for new approvals.
With a portfolio that already exceeds 27 submitted projects and investment commitments climbing above $30 billion, more than 98% of which are concentrated in energy and mining, the economic cabinet believes that closing the enrollment window in 2026 could leave out latent investments estimated at another $20 billion.
As of Dec. 29, 2025, the national government had not yet issued a formal decree extending the registration deadline beyond July 2026. Still, signals from top officials in the energy and mining areas have been favorable regarding the political will to pursue this option.
The secretary for Energy and Mining Coordination, Daniel González, confirmed that the technical decision is under rigorous review and that an official announcement is expected during the summer. Specialists argue that the complexity of environmental impact studies and detailed engineering for many energy and mining projects requires a longer time horizon.
An eventual extension would allow companies that are still in technical feasibility stages or in the process of reaching financial close, particularly in the copper mining sector, whose development cycles are inherently slower, to secure their entry into the scheme.
From a market strategy perspective, a one-year extension, pushing the project submission deadline to July 2027, would be grounded in the “confidence shock” generated by the regime, which has exceeded initial expectations for foreign currency inflows.
As RIGI has become a “success story” with broad resonance in global markets, extending the deadline appears not only likely but necessary to position Argentina as one of South America’s leading investment hubs for natural resources and energy.
Alongside the discussion over timelines, the government recently took an unexpected step by announcing an expansion of RIGI’s sectoral scope to also cover upstream hydrocarbons. The decision, revealed during Oil Day celebrations, seeks to include oil and gas well drilling, activities that initially fell into a gray area or outside direct benefits, under the regime’s incentive umbrella.
This expansion aims to shield Vaca Muerta’s competitiveness amid a global crude price environment projected to be volatile in 2026, ensuring that Argentina’s cost of capital remains attractive enough to draw major independent operators from the United States and Europe.
Projects approved, one by one
To date, the official Evaluation Committee has approved nine critical projects, while another 10 are undergoing rigorous technical analysis, underscoring investor appetite that defies the region’s historical volatility.
- The most ambitious project is Argentina LNG, developed by the Southern Energy consortium, which last year added Norway’s Golar LNG. It marked a historic precedent as the first liquefied natural gas export scheme to secure RIGI approval. Located on the shores of the San Matías Gulf in Río Negro province, the project involves an investment of $6.878 billion to install a liquefaction vessel that will process surplus gas from Vaca Muerta for global markets. The initiative positions Argentina on the global map of cleaner energy suppliers and ensures a steady source of foreign currency, with export projections expected to transform the country’s energy trade balance in the short term.
- The Vaca Muerta Oil Sur (VMOS) project, led by state-controlled YPF in partnership with other key operators, represents another major infrastructure milestone under the current regime. With an investment commitment of about $2.5 billion, the oil pipeline is a world-class engineering project designed to connect the heart of the shale basin with an export terminal at Punta Colorada on the San Matías Gulf coast in Río Negro. Technically disruptive, the project will enable the evacuation of up to 390,000 barrels per day of crude, boosting the basin’s export capacity and sharply reducing logistical bottlenecks that had constrained unconventional production growth.
- In the lithium mining segment, the Rincón project, owned by the Anglo-Australian giant Rio Tinto, received regulatory approval for development in the province of Salta. With an investment of $2.724 billion, the company will implement Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology, a technical innovation that optimizes mineral recovery and reduces water impact compared with traditional evaporation methods. The project is at an advanced operational stage, and its inclusion under RIGI ensures the stability needed to carry out the complex construction schedules in the Puna region, consolidating Salta as a high-efficiency and reliable mining hub for institutional investors.
- Another fundamental component of the approved framework is the Galán Lithium project, owned by Galán Lithium S.A., located in the Salar del Hombre Muerto in Catamarca province. The company committed to an initial investment of $217 million to produce high-purity lithium carbonate. The project stands out for the excellent quality of its brines and their low impurity levels, which reduces chemical processing costs and increases operating margins. Its inclusion under RIGI allows Galán Lithium to accelerate construction and commissioning stages, with first exports projected for late 2026, providing a boost to Catamarca’s regional economy.
- The most recently approved project is Gualcamayo, in San Juan province. Its core focus is the development and exploitation of the Deep Carbonates project, through which the company plans to extend the useful life of its gold mine to produce about 120,000 ounces of gold per year for at least 17 years. The committed investment totals $665 million, with roughly $50 million earmarked for geological exploration.
- Copper mining also took a qualitative leap with approval of the Los Azules project, operated by McEwen Copper through Andes Corporación Minera in San Juan. The development calls for an investment of $2.672 billion to build one of the world’s largest and most environmentally responsible copper mines. The project stands out for its green mining approach, using heap leaching and low water consumption technologies, factors that were decisive for its validation under RIGI. The scale of the investment underscores Argentina’s return to the global copper stage, a critical mineral for the energy transition and vehicle electrification.
- Renewable energy also drew significant interest in 2025, led by the El Quemado Solar Park developed by YPF Luz in Las Heras, Mendoza province. It was the first project approved and to become operational, recently receiving authorization to inject 100 megawatts in its initial phase. The project involves an investment of $211 million for 305 megawatt-hours of photovoltaic capacity to be integrated into Argentina’s interconnected power system. It will be the country’s largest solar park. Its technical relevance lies in its strategic location, tapping one of Argentina’s highest solar radiation levels, ensuring an optimized capacity factor and contributing directly to decarbonizing the national energy mix, a growing requirement among ESG-focused capital markets.
- In Buenos Aires province, the metallurgical and renewable energy sectors were strengthened with the Olavarría Wind Farm, promoted by the Techint Group through Ternium and Tenaris. Approved for $255 million, the project will have an installed capacity of 180 MW, designed to supply clean energy to the group’s industrial plants, reducing their carbon footprint and improving export competitiveness. Its financial structure relies on accelerated depreciation and VAT refund benefits under RIGI, enabling a large-scale investment amid tight international financing conditions.
- Industrial diversification is also reflected in the Argentine Steel Project, or Sidersa, located in San Nicolás, Buenos Aires province. With a committed investment of $296 million, the initiative aims to modernize and expand its long steel plant, incorporating cutting-edge technologies to improve energy efficiency and product quality for domestic and regional markets. The project shows how RIGI not only attracts extractive capital but also boosts manufacturing competitiveness, aligning Argentina’s steel industry with international productivity standards.
- Logistics and infrastructure also saw approval of the Timbúes Multipurpose Terminal, managed by Terminal Timbúes S.A. in Santa Fe province. The $277 million river port terminal on the Paraná River will specialize in storage and shipment of fertilizers and steel products. With final approval in place, civil works can begin to expand bulk cargo reception capacity and improve logistics efficiency at Argentina’s most important port complex. The project is vital to reducing transaction costs in foreign trade, providing modern infrastructure to support projected growth in agricultural and industrial output.
Still under review
Beyond approved projects, there is a robust pipeline of initiatives under evaluation, 75% of them mining projects.
- Led by Glencore in San Juan, the Pachón project stands as the regime’s most ambitious single investment at $9.533 billion, envisioning construction of a world-class copper mine with a life span exceeding 25 years. It would position Argentina among the world’s top 10 copper producers.
- Also under Glencore, the Agua Rica, or MARA, project in Catamarca stands out for its circular economy model, integrating a high-grade copper and gold deposit with existing infrastructure from the former Alumbrera mine. The approach optimizes environmental footprint and accelerates startup timelines with a $3.806 billion investment.
- In Catamarca, Rio Tinto is advancing the Sal de Vida project with a committed $818 million investment, notable for deploying high-efficiency evaporation technologies to produce battery-grade lithium carbonate under strong international sustainability standards.
- Also in Catamarca, Posco is developing the Sal de Oro project with $633 million, integrating advanced Korean technology in brine processing to ensure purity suitable for the electric vehicle market.
- Further north, Ganfeng Lithium leads two strategic fronts: the expansion of Cauchari-Olaroz in Jujuy, one of Argentina’s largest lithium operations by installed capacity, and the Mariana project in Salta, which was rejected for inclusion under RIGI.
- Abra Silver is promoting the Diablillos project in Salta, with a $500 million investment. It stands out as one of the region’s largest undeveloped silver and gold deposits, offering strong profitability potential due to high-grade geology and optimized extraction methods.
- In San Juan, the alliance between Barrick and Shandong Gold to expand Veladero with $380 million represents a continuity milestone, extending the life of one of Argentina’s flagship gold mines through optimization of leach pads and resource management systems.
- In the heart of the Neuquén Basin, Minera del Mojotoro and Minera Orosmayo are planning the Arenas de Cercanías, or Nearby Sands, project, investing $232 million to transform Vaca Muerta logistics by supplying locally produced, high-quality frac sand from Río Negro province, significantly reducing operating costs for unconventional wells.
- In Neuquén, Tecpetrol is advancing the Los Toldos project with a committed $1.006 billion investment focused on developing critical infrastructure for evacuation and treatment of unconventional hydrocarbons, maximizing Vaca Muerta’s export potential to regional markets.
- Also in Neuquén, Pampa Energía aims to reinforce the value chain with the Rincón de Aranda project, allocating $295 million for pipelines and treatment plants to ensure the logistical flow needed for exponential growth in shale oil production.
- In renewables, YPF Luz submitted the La Rinconada project in Buenos Aires province, planning a $206 million investment to build a large-scale wind farm that will inject clean energy into the national grid. The project will strengthen energy security and support decarbonization goals, underscoring RIGI’s versatility not only for natural resource extraction but also for modernizing Argentina’s power infrastructure with a long-term, low-impact vision.