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In September 2025, Argentina approved the largest mining concession in the country since the 1980s, and McEwen Copper will invest 4 billion dollars in the Los Azules project in the Andean mountain range of the San Juan province to extract 205,000 tons of copper annually starting in 2029 or 2030. According to specialized coverage by the portal Mining.com, the deposit is the ninth largest undeveloped copper reservoir on the planet and has a direct strategic partnership with the Franco-Italian automaker Stellantis, which holds 18.3% of the shares, and with the British-Australian mining company Rio Tinto, which owns 17.2% via its subsidiary Nuton.
The approval took place under the Incentive Regime for Large Investments, known by the acronym RIGI, a policy created by the government of Javier Milei in 2024 to unlock foreign capital in projects over 200 million dollars. With the entry of Los Azules, Argentina secured a wave of 2.7 billion dollars in long-term tax and regulatory incentives, formally signed in September 2025.
The project will operate as an open-pit mine, with a heap leaching system and solvent extraction followed by electrowinning, a process that produces Grade A copper cathodes from the London Metal Exchange directly on-site, without the need to transport raw ore to distant refineries. The operation is expected to run 100% on renewable energy from day one and achieve carbon neutrality by 2038.
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How Argentine Patagonia could replace Congo in the coming years
Today, according to data from the US Geological Survey, Congo is the fourth largest copper producer in the world, behind only Chile, Peru, and China, with an annual volume close to 2.8 million tons. Argentina, in contrast, has practically not produced copper on an industrial scale since the closure of the Alumbrera mine in the Catamarca province in 2018.
Researchers find that the more Argentina releases Andean deposits historically blocked by political instability, the more the global geographic axis of copper production shifts to the South American cone, altering trade routes and transportation costs for Asian and European automotive and electrical industries. Los Azules alone could add 1.5% to the global copper market in the next decade.
The combination of Los Azules with other advanced projects in the San Juan province, such as Filo del Sol and Josemaría, both partially controlled by BHP and Lundin Mining, could triple Argentina’s copper production by 2032. Thus, the country could enter the group of the ten largest global producers before 2035, according to analyses by the Center for Mining Industry Studies.
The Milei RIGI Regime that unlocked foreign capital
The Incentive Regime for Large Investments was approved by the Argentine Congress in June 2024, as part of the economic reform package of the Milei government. The program offers investors in projects over 200 million dollars fiscal stability for 30 years, a reduction to 25% in corporate income tax, free currency conversion of dividends, and exemption from import taxes for industrial equipment.
According to an analysis by the consultancy Discovery Alert, dedicated to mining markets, the RIGI already enabled the formal approval of 13 projects in the mining sector in 2025 and 2026, with a total committed volume exceeding 18 billion dollars. Investments will focus on copper, lithium, and silver in the provinces of San Juan, Catamarca, Salta, and Jujuy over the next decade.
According to information released by McEwen Copper in an official statement, the inclusion of the project in the RIGI occurred after months of technical review by teams from the National Mining Secretariat and had prior environmental approval from the provincial government of San Juan, led by Marcelo Orrego.
Why Stellantis and Rio Tinto joined forces in the operation
Stellantis, owner of brands such as Fiat, Jeep, Citroën, Peugeot, and Maserati, became a partner in Los Azules in 2023 with direct investment and a commitment to absorb a significant part of future production to support the manufacturing of electric vehicles.
The automaker plans to use Argentine copper in the production of electric motors, batteries, and fast-charging systems in factories distributed worldwide.
Rio Tinto entered through its subsidiary Nuton, specializing in copper bioleaching techniques, with an initial contribution of 100 million dollars. The agreement allows Rio Tinto to test proprietary extraction technologies more efficiently on a large scale, in a model that can be replicated in similar South American deposits over the next decade.
Canadian businessman Rob McEwen, founder of McEwen Mining and a strong name in the gold sector since the 1990s, retains 12.7% of the remaining shares in direct personal participation. McEwen Copper as a holding controls 46.4% of the project, and the remaining 5.4% are distributed among the Australian conglomerate Smorgon and other smaller investors.
The $300 million IPO planned for the last quarter of 2026
McEwen Copper announced preparations for a stock market launch, with a tentative window between October and December 2026, in an initial offering estimated at 300 million dollars. The operation aims to complement the financing of Los Azules and mark the return of a major junior mining company to the North American capital market after years of sector contraction.
The total financing of the Los Azules project is structured in two parts. The first, of 2.4 billion dollars, will be raised through structured debt with an international financial institution not yet publicly named. The second, of 1.6 billion dollars, will come from the strategic partners’ own capital and future contributions, including the planned IPO.
According to monitoring by the portal BNamericas, specialized in Latin American mining, the first batch of Grade A copper cathodes is scheduled for production in 2029, with the possibility of advancement to the end of 2028 if the construction schedule progresses without major logistical delays in access infrastructure works.
Why Brazil should closely follow the Andean copper race
Brazil is a net importer of refined copper and heavily depends on Chilean and Peruvian suppliers to feed its electrical and automotive industry. Argentina’s entry as a scale producer changes the regional equation, opening up the possibility of reducing logistical costs for imports via South Atlantic ports, especially Buenos Aires and Bahía Blanca.
On the other hand, Brazilian specialists from the Brazilian Mining Institute point out that the success of the RIGI could pressure Brazil to offer equivalent competitive conditions to unlock stalled projects in Minas Gerais and Pará, where there are exploitable copper reserves but with slower regulatory schedules.
It is worth noting that other discoveries about Andean megaprojects, critical metals, and energy transition frequently appear in our Curiosities and Science sections, connecting global advances to regional opportunities for the Brazilian industry.
The political risk that always looms over long-term Argentine projects
Country risk specialists warn that Argentina is historically vulnerable to abrupt changes in economic regimes, with past episodes of currency controls, export price freezes, and unilateral alteration of concession contracts. The RIGI itself already faces challenges from opposing political movements that promise to revoke it in the event of a government change.
On the other hand, the 30-year fiscal shield provided in the regime creates a significant legal barrier to reversals. European and North American institutional investors seem comfortable enough with this guarantee to authorize the disbursement of billions in projects that will only generate cash after 2029.
Still, the Los Azules schedule crucially depends on Argentine political stability for the next 25 years, the expected average lifespan of the mine. The next decade will tell if Argentina and the Andean axis can indeed establish themselves as a structural counterpoint to Congo in supplying copper for the global energy transition.
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