BHP and Lundin’s Argentina copper projects target 2030 start

Miner Vicuna Corp, controlled by Australia’s BHP and Canada’s Lundin Mining, expects two copper projects in Argentina to start production in 2030, the company told Reuters.

Argentina has not produced copper since 2018, but currently has a sizable pipeline of projects that could position the country among the top 10 global producers.

The deposits at Vicuna’s Josemaria and Filo del Sol mines contain 13 million metric tons of measured copper and 25 million tons of inferred copper.

“The construction timelines for this type of project, for each deposit, would take around three years, maybe a little more,” Vicuna’s country head, Jose Morea, said in an interview at ArMinera, a major mining event held in Buenos Aires.

He added that the construction launch will have to wait for approval after a technical report is submitted.

“It wouldn’t be sensible to think that, if approved sometime after the presentation of that technical report, we could accelerate it before 2030,” Morea said.

In the first half of 2026 the companies plan to submit a technical report to Vicuna’s board of directors, which will determine the exact date of production startup and the useful life of the projects, the executive added.

Vicuna also plans to apply to join the Large Investment Incentives Regime promoted by Javier Milei’s government to attract investments.

Vicuna plans to invest $400 million this year in the Latin American country, Morea said, from an estimated total investment of $5 billion in the projects.

Josemaria, an advanced copper deposit, is in pre-construction status. Filo del Sol, a gold, copper and silver deposit in the exploration stage, is located 11 kilometers from Josemaria on the border with Chile.

(By Lucila Sigal; Editing by Kylie Madry and Matthew Lewis)