Josemaria is a copper, gold and silver deposit, located in the extreme northwest of San Juan, in the Iglesia department, at 4,230 meters above sea level, which is in the pre-construction stage.
The Australian mining company BHP will invest again in Argentina, after reaching an agreement with the Canadian Lundin Mining to participate in two large copper projects in the province of San Juan (northwest), near the border with Chile, the company reported this Tuesday. and official sources.
The trans-Andean Government highlighted that BHP would not have carried out the decision to invest "if it had not been for the regime that gives certain guarantees and adds value to the project."
This is a series of tax benefits that President Javier Milei put on the table and that a few weeks ago were approved by the Congress of the neighboring country.
As detailed by Agencia EFE , BHP and Lundin Mining agreed to form a joint company, in which each party will have 50%, to develop the “Filo del Sol” and “Josemaria” copper projects.
The companies signed a definitive agreement to jointly acquire 100% of the shares of the company Filo, owner of the Filo del Sol project.
Lundin Mining owned 100% of the Josemaria project, so BHP will pay the Canadian company $690 million for the contribution it had made to the copper project.
“The joint venture will create a long-term partnership” between BHP and Lundin Mining to jointly develop copper projects “with world-class potential,” the Australian said in a statement, detailing that it expects the full cash payment for the transaction is approximately $2.1 billion.
Filo del Sol contains copper, silver and gold oxide and is located on the border between Chile and Argentina, 140 kilometers southeast of Copiapó and 480 kilometers north-northwest of the capital of San Juan.
Josemaria is a copper, gold and silver deposit, located in the extreme northwest of San Juan, in the Iglesia department, at 4,230 meters above sea level, which is in the pre-construction stage.
Tax incentives
This agreement comes after Congress approved at the end of last June an initiative by the Executive of Javier Milei, the “Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI)”, which grants tax, customs and exchange incentives for 30 years for projects that exceed 200 million dollars, and with the confidence that the San Juan legislature will soon adhere.
“This company (BHP) would not have carried out the decision to invest if it had not been for this regime that gives it certain guarantees and adds value to the project,” said presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni on Tuesday in his usual press conference. at the Executive headquarters.
“The complex is going to be among the ten largest copper mines in the world and will provide San Juan with 1.1 billion dollars in annual exports,” said Adorni, and highlighted Argentina's interest in developing mining, since the country only exports 4 billion dollars annually.
Lundin Mining operates in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Portugal, Sweden and the United States, mainly in the production of copper, zinc, gold and nickel.
BHP - which operates in Australia, Chile, Brazil, Peru, the US and Canada developing copper, iron ore, nickel, potassium and coal - thus returns to Argentina, where it operated until 2003, when it sold its share in the Bajo copper and gold project. La Alumbrera, in the province of Catamarca (northwest).
