BHP, Rio advance projects in boost to Argentina mining ambitions

Argentina’s push to become a major producer of critical minerals got a boost this week as the world’s two biggest miners advanced plans in the country.

A BHP Group venture submitted an application to join Argentina’s investment incentives programme for a project in an area it hopes will be the next major production hub for copper. At the same time, Rio Tinto Group’s new boss Simon Trott was in Buenos Aires meeting with World Bank officials to help fund a lithium project.

Once shunned over capital controls and heavy state intervention, Argentina is winning back foreign companies as President Javier Milei offers a path to shield investments.

The Vicuña joint venture between BHP and Canada’s Lundin Mining Corp applied for the tax, customs and foreign-exchange benefits available under the regime known as RIGI, the venture said in a statement. Vicuña made the filing as it prepares to seek permits for a multibillion-dollar project that would help ease a tight copper market once production begins next decade. Copper touched a fresh record this week.

Although Vicuña hasn’t disclosed capital-spending plans, its application falls under the category of long-term strategic export projects, which requires at least US$2 billion of investment in the first two years.

Argentina’s resource sector has long been dominated by farming and oil, and more recently lithium. Copper projects are typically larger, costlier and more complex – but San Juan Province, near the Chilean border, now hosts a cluster of developments that could turn it into a copper hot spot as demand for the wiring metal rises.

“Our RIGI application reflects both the scale of investment required for the Vicuña project and our confidence in Argentina as a long-term partner,” Chief Executive Officer Ron Hochstein said in the statement. 

Vicuña, which combines the Josemaría and Filo del Sol deposits, is advancing engineering and technical studies and plans to release a report next quarter.

Trott – who took over from Jakob Stausholm in August with a mandate to enforce greater spending discipline – led a delegation of senior Rio executives to Argentina this week.

One meeting was with executives from the International Finance Corporation and the World Bank, as Rio seeks financing for its Rincón lithium project in the province of Salta, the company said.

Talks are underway but nothing has been finalised, a company official said in a text message.

The discussions may help ease concerns that Rio was rethinking its lithium strategy after Sprott mothballed a Serbian project and suggested a phased approach to a market ravaged by oversupply and falling prices.

Rio has budgeted US$2.5 billion for Rincón, with about $2 billion still to spend, according to a company presentation that describes Argentina as the cornerstone of its lithium strategy. The project includes a processing plant with annual capacity of 60,000 metric tons of lithium carbonate, with first production expected in 2028.