The Canadian mining firm Lundin Mining announced to President Alberto Fernández an investment of 4.1 billion dollars to start up the Josemaría project, in the north of the province of San Juan, rich in copper, gold and silver, which will begin to produce in 2026 and that it will generate exports of 1.7 billion dollars annually.
It was within the framework of a meeting held at Government House, in which the president and CEO of the Lundin Group, Adam Lundin, participated and in which the head of state was accompanied by the ministers of Economy, Martín Guzmán, and of Development Productive, Matías Kulfas; the Secretary of Mining, Alberto Hensel; and the governor of San Juan, Sergio Uñac.
“It is a very important investment for Argentina for its amount, and for the very significant impact that it will have and that will help the country to solve productive and macroeconomic issues simultaneously,” said Minister Kulfas in a contact he maintained. with the press after the meeting.
The minister said that the construction of the mine will begin “in the next few months with an investment of 3,100 million dollars,” a stage in which some 3,000 workers will directly and indirectly occupy it, while another 1,000 million dollars will be applied for the operation, for which “around 2,500 workers” will be taken.
During the meeting, the head of state was able to learn about the details of the project that will imply that Argentina once again has a copper production plan at the national level, based on the growing demand for this mineral based on the energy transition that is taking place. gives globally.
The mine’s start of operation is scheduled for 2026 and its useful life will be 19 years.
Joseamaria Resources Inc. belongs to the Lundin Group and is focused on the development of the copper and gold mining project in San Juan, whose environmental standards, policies for prevention and mitigation of impact in the territory, and control of environmental risks are in line with national and international requirements in this area.
Josemaría will be an open-pit mine at an altitude of 4,295 meters above sea level, in the Iglesia department, in the north of San Juan, in the middle of the Andes mountain range, 410 kilometers from the provincial capital and 10 kilometers from the border with Chile.
Kulfas said the announcement “was very well received by the President and with great satisfaction.”
“Copper is a central mineral for what is coming in the world, a green revolution, to produce electric vehicles that use between 5 and 6 times more copper than a conventional vehicle,” explained the Minister of Productive Development.
For his part, Governor Uñac said that “this project is extremely significant for us” because we are committed to responsible mining, for the diversification of the productive matrix, understanding that there is the possibility of continuing with the decline in unemployment rates, that today in San Juan they are in 4.9% “.
He specified that “we have minerals that are under-exploited today, because there were no investments in exploration, which have grown a lot in the country for two years to date, especially in San Juan, and that has been the kickstart so that today we could announce this investment that is entering a new stage, but which has been in the exploration stage for many years “.
Uñac pointed out that for his province this mining development “implies doubling the energy consumption that San Juan has today: only Josemaría is going to imply 1.2 times the energy consumption that we have today, and also double the export volume” of the province.
“Today we export around 1,300 million dollars annually, mainly in the mineral sector, and the exploitation of this mining project would double us,” he added.
Meanwhile, the CEO of the mining company said that at the firm “we are very enthusiastic about what is coming with Josemaría’s production.”
After noting that “conditions will continue to be favorable to work and invest in Argentina”, Adam Lundin said that the current “is a time when copper is needed to electrify the planet and Josemaría has the potential to be one of the great green local development projects, and such a project can only be achieved with a good dialogue with all the authorities of the national, provincial and municipal governments. “
Lundin recalled that to Argentina “my father came first, in 1989, and he loved the country, he saw the enormous potential of this nation, and we were able to participate in Bajo de la Alumbrera, in Catamarca.”
“Later he discovered Veladero in San Juan and today we are in Josemaría. There we made the pertinent discoveries and now we are delighted with what is being thought about Josemaría’s production,” added the manager during a contact with the press.
Based on the forecasts, the exploitation will feed a conventional process plant, with a production of 136,000 tons of copper, 231,000 ounces of gold and 1,164,000 ounces of silver per year.
Finally, it was reported that the Ministry of Productive Development will make available to the Canadian company all the tools available to strengthen the processes of acquisition of local goods, particularly through the National Supplier Development Program (Prodepro) that assists numerous related companies to the mining activity in the country.
