BHP venture seeks Argentina incentives for major copper project

A BHP Group venture submitted an application to join Argentina’s investment incentives program for a project in an area it hopes will be the next major production hub for copper.

The Vicuña joint venture between Australia’s BHP and Canada’s Lundin Mining Corp. filed for the tax, customs and currency exchange benefits offered under the country’s program, known as RIGI, the venture wrote in a statement published on its website.

Once a pariah because of capital controls and state intervention, Argentina is regaining the confidence of foreign companies as President Javier Milei offers a way to bulletproof their investments. Vicuña made the application as it prepares to seek approvals for a multi-billion-dollar project that would help alleviate a tight copper market when it starts producing next decade. Copper prices touched a fresh all-time high this week.

Argentina’s resource industries are centered on farming and oil, and the country has had success more recently with lithium mining. But copper projects tend to be bigger, pricier and more difficult to develop. Now San Juan, near the border with Chile, has a cluster of projects that could make it a copper production hot-spot as demand for the wiring metal picks up.

While Vicuña is yet to make any public declaration on planned capital expenditure, its application is in the category of long-term strategic export projects, which requires a commitment of at least $2 billion in the first two years from its approval.

“Our RIGI application reflects both the scale of investment required for the Vicuña project and our confidence in Argentina as a long-term partner,” chief executive officer Ron Hochstein said in the statement.

Vicuña, which combines the Josemaría and Filo del Sol deposits, continues to work through engineering and technical studies with plans to release a report next quarter.

(By James Attwood)