Argentina Backs Glencore’s US$4bn Agua Rica Copper Mine
ECONOMY · ARGENTINA
Key Facts
- —The country Argentina, which has had no large copper mine in operation since Alumbrera in Catamarca shut in 2018, according to the energy outlet Shale24.
- —What happened On 2 October 2026 a government evaluation committee approved Glencore’s Agua Rica copper project for the RIGI investment regime, with estimated capital spending of US$4 billion.
- —The numbers Up to 3,500 construction jobs; 1,250 direct and 3,750 indirect jobs in operation; about 200,000 tonnes of copper a year; exports of about US$2.17 billion a year (presidency, 2 Oct 2026).
- —What it means for you Argentina gains a fourth copper project under the regime (Shale24 count), adding to the case for dollar inflows. Output is not expected before October 2031.
- —Still open Environmental and regulatory permits still lie ahead, and Glencore’s larger El Pachón project in San Juan, put at US$9.5 billion, is still under evaluation.
The Agua Rica copper project in Catamarca has won approval under the Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI). The regime is Argentina’s tax and regulatory stability scheme for big projects. Glencore, the Swiss-based mining and trading group, puts the capital cost at US$4 billion.
The approval was announced on Friday 2 October in Paris. President Javier Milei met Glencore chief executive Gary Nagle there during an Argentine investment week. It was the regime’s second approval of the day, after a Pluspetrol oil project in Vaca Muerta.
What Glencore plans to build
According to a statement from the presidency reported by La Nación, Glencore expects to spend US$771 million in the first two years. That is almost ten times the minimum the regime requires, and will be funded with Glencore equity and debt.
Works would start in November 2027 and production in October 2031. Average output is put at about 200,000 tonnes of copper a year, all for export, worth about US$2.17 billion annually.
Ore would be processed at the old Alumbrera plant, 35 kilometres away. It would then be piped to Tucumán and railed to Rosario port. Combining the two sites gives the project its other name, MARA (Minera Agua Rica Alumbrera).
Jobs and the Alumbrera restart
Glencore said in a statement carried by Diario Río Negro that MARA already employs about 2,000 people, most of them from Catamarca. Construction could take the workforce to a peak of 3,500.
Once running, the presidency expects 1,250 direct and 3,750 indirect jobs. Glencore told the London Stock Exchange that Alumbrera should restart in the second half of 2027, six months early, Shale24 reported.
“The RIGI provides the fiscal and regulatory certainty needed to commit capital of this size,” said Glencore Argentina head Martín Pérez de Solay. He described Alumbrera, MARA and El Pachón as a pillar of the group’s copper growth.
Where it sits in Argentina’s copper pipeline
With Agua Rica, four copper projects now hold RIGI approval, according to Shale24. The largest is Vicuña in San Juan, owned by BHP and Lundin Mining, with an initial investment of US$9.7 billion.
The others are McEwen Copper’s Los Azules at about US$2.67 billion and San Jorge in Mendoza at US$891 million. Other Paris pledges are covered in Argentina Paris Week Brings US$10.5 Billion in Pledges and Pan American Energy Files US$1.2 Billion RIGI Bid.
The approval gives investors a firmer signal on the project than years of studies did. Yet all four projects will ship concentrate rather than refined metal, Shale24 noted, so most processing value stays abroad.
What Is Not Yet Known
Glencore said further progress depends on technical, environmental and regulatory stages still ahead. No date has been given for an environmental approval, and the start of works is more than a year away.
It is also unclear when the committee will rule on El Pachón, which Shale24 puts at US$9.5 billion. In Paris, Nagle publicly linked that project to this year’s change to Argentina’s glacier protection law.
Sources: La Nación (statement from Argentina’s presidency), 2 October 2026; Diario Río Negro (Glencore statement), 2 October 2026; Shale24, 2 October 2026; Perfil, 2 October 2026.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief
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