Argentina Confirms 33,650 Tonnes of Uranium Across Seven Mining Projects
ARGENTINA · ENERGY
Key Facts
- —What happened Argentina’s atomic energy commission confirmed 33,650 tonnes of uranium in seven mining projects.
- —How big The tonnage could cover about 150 years of the country’s current nuclear fuel consumption.
- —Where it sits The projects lie in Mendoza, Chubut, Río Negro and Salta, with Chubut holding roughly half.
- —The catch Not one mine produces today, so Argentina still imports all of the uranium its reactors burn.
- —Who it touches Three nuclear plants, foreign mining firms and Patagonian provinces all have a stake.
- —What comes next The commission wants mining-company agreements signed before the end of 2026.
Argentina’s National Atomic Energy Commission has put a firm number on the country’s uranium wealth: 33,650 tonnes across seven projects in four provinces, enough in theory to feed its nuclear plants for a century and a half.
What the atomic energy commission confirmed
The figure comes from the National Atomic Energy Commission, known by its Spanish initials CNEA. It counts identified resources that are recoverable at a production cost below US$130 per kilogram.
The total of 33,650 tonnes of uranium in Argentina breaks down into seven projects with very different weights. The largest single entry is Sierra Pintada in Mendoza, with 10,010 tonnes.
Cerro Solo in Chubut follows with 8,180 tonnes, and Amarillo Grande in Río Negro adds 6,600 tonnes. Meseta Central, also in Chubut, holds a further 5,290 tonnes.
Laguna Salada in Chubut accounts for 2,980 tonnes. Don Otto in Salta and Laguna Colorada in Chubut close the list with 430 and 160 tonnes.
Add the seven figures and they reconcile exactly with the national total. Chubut alone holds 16,610 tonnes, roughly half of everything identified.
The commission stresses that the number is a floor, not a ceiling. Current exploration, from geochemical sampling to drilling, is designed to keep adding to the identified base.
The projects sit at different stages of maturity. Sierra Pintada and Don Otto are the most advanced, both already in feasibility studies.
Why a country rich in uranium imports all of it
Here is the paradox at the heart of this announcement. The country runs three nuclear power plants, Atucha I, Atucha II and Embalse, with 1,763 megawatts of installed capacity.
Those reactors burn around 220 tonnes of uranium a year, and every tonne is imported. Domestic mining stopped when the Sierra Pintada mine in Mendoza closed in the mid-1990s.
Between 1952 and 1997 Argentina extracted about 2,600 tonnes from its own deposits. Cheap imports then made local production uneconomic, and the industry was mothballed.
Argentina declared uranium a strategic resource back in 1945. It remains one of the few countries that master the full nuclear fuel cycle, from mining know-how to fuel fabrication.
What it lacks is the first link in the chain. That is the gap the commission’s new confirmation is meant to help close.
The nuclear plan behind the numbers
President Javier Milei presented the Argentine Nuclear Plan in December 2024. Its first phase is a small modular reactor, the ACR-300 designed by the state technology firm INVAP, at the Atucha site.
The second phase is precisely about uranium in Argentina. The idea is to cover domestic demand first and then turn the country into an exporter of high-value nuclear fuel.
The commission’s president, Germán Guido Lavalle, has set concrete goals for this year. He wants agreements with mining companies signed before the end of 2026 to restart uranium mining.
The same roadmap includes starting up the RA-10 multipurpose reactor in Ezeiza and resuming uranium enrichment. Exploration work is already running, from aerial radiometric surveys to drilling.
Global conditions help the case. The uranium price roughly doubled between 2020 and 2024, to about US$72.6 per pound, according to industry data cited by Argentine media.
The government has also taken the story straight to investors. Officials presented the nuclear potential during Argentina Week in New York, before more than 50 investment funds.
The uranium push runs alongside a wider mining boom. The Argentine Chamber of Mining Companies projects copper output above one million tonnes a year and some 342,000 tonnes of new lithium capacity within a decade.
The obstacles are political as much as geological
Chubut, the province with half the resource, restricts open-pit mining by law. Changing that rule has divided the province for decades.
Governor Ignacio Torres wants the deposits administered by the commission reverted to the province. He argues the constitution gives provinces ownership of their natural resources.
In Mendoza, Sierra Pintada needs social consent as much as capital. Previous attempts to reopen it met organised local resistance.
Environmental groups remain firmly opposed, above all in Chubut. Activists there argue that mining stopped because it was cheaper to import, and they question whether the economics have truly changed.
The state energy company YPF has also moved in, with plans for a nuclear division. Private firms from Canada and Britain already hold exploration rights in Patagonia.
Why foreigners and investors are watching
Washington has taken notice of uranium in Argentina. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in October 2025 that Argentina is rich in uranium and open to American private companies.
The World Nuclear Association puts Argentina’s share of global uranium reserves at 0.56 percent. That is modest in volume but strategic in a market anxious about supply.
The most advanced private project shows what is possible. Blue Sky Uranium, a Canadian firm, leads the Amarillo Grande district in Río Negro, where the Ivana deposit alone could yield an average of 680 tonnes of uranium concentrate a year.
For expats and investors the immediate effect is limited, because no mine will produce this year. The confirmation matters as a signal that the state is mapping, certifying and marketing the resource.
The next markers to watch are the mining agreements the commission wants signed by December. The first test projects would be Sierra Pintada in Mendoza and Cerro Solo in Chubut.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much uranium does Argentina have?
The National Atomic Energy Commission confirms 33,650 tonnes in identified, recoverable resources across seven projects in Mendoza, Chubut, Río Negro and Salta. At current consumption that equals roughly 150 years of supply.
Does Argentina mine uranium today?
No. Production ended when the Sierra Pintada mine in Mendoza closed in the mid-1990s, and the country imports the roughly 220 tonnes of uranium its three nuclear plants use each year.
When could uranium mining restart in Argentina?
The atomic energy commission aims to sign agreements with mining companies before the end of 2026. Any actual production would still require feasibility studies, provincial approvals and, in Chubut, changes to mining law.
Sources
Comisión Nacional de Energía Atómica (CNEA); Río Negro; iProfesional; Minería & Desarrollo; El Extremo Sur; La Voz de Chubut; World Nuclear Association.
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