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Key takeaways:
Argentina is positioning itself as a key global supplier of critical minerals essential to the energy transition, with copper and lithium mining specifically reshaping the way investors see the country, even amid internal challenges the region still faces.
“Argentina and the Andean region holds a big share of the world’s lithium and copper resources, but [they] are still relatively financially underrepresented,” Stelios Papagrigoriou, executive chairman and co-founder of global consultant IN-VR, said in his welcome remarks at the 4th LatAm & Argentina Critical Minerals Summit. “The main goal of the event is to connect countries with investors. We wanted to take action and create a bridge that connects.”
The summit was held in Buenos Aires and Mendoza, Argentina, on November 12-14, and was hosted by sustainability and green energy organization The Net-Zero Circle by IN-VR.
Argentina currently has 83 lithium projects at different stages of exploration and construction, according to Fastmarkets’ research team. These are mainly in the most arid areas of the country — the Catamarca, Jujuy and Salta provinces — with ten operations working.
Lithium Argentina and Ganfeng Lithium recently announced that they will combine their Pozuelos and Pastos Grandes salt flats in Argentina into a joint venture to maximize production.
Production at the Pozuelos and Pastos Grandes basins is projected to reach 150,000 tonnes per year, with three phases of 50,000 tpy each. The feasibility study on production is expected to be finished by the end of this year.
Fastmarkets’ research team forecasts Argentina’s lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) production to reach about 403,000 tonnes LCE in 2035, rising at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14% between 2025 and 2035.
Compared with the previous forecast (CAGR of 12%), the new forecast added the second phase of POSCO’s Sal de Oro 2 project, with a capacity of 25,000 tpy LCE based on the company’s announcement.
Galan Lithium’s Hombre Muerto West project has been pushed back by a year to 2026, with construction continuing.
“Many early-stage projects within exploration and financing stages are expected to be delayed, considering the global high [capital expenditure] for new projects and the low prices situation,” Fasmarkets’ research team wrote in its third-quarter report.
According to Simon Alsina, president at lithium producer EXAR, Argentina has high-quality lithium and good regulation
“Prices are low, but this is a great opportunity because we have brine lithium deposits, so lower costs,” Alsina said during the summit.
When asked about falling lithium prices and the forecast for the lithium projects in Argentina considering this scenario, Ignacio Celorrio, executive vice president at Lithium Argentina, said that this is not a challenge for the country.
“Falling prices are not a big challenge for projects in Argentina. It might be for hard-rock projects in Australia, for example. But this is actually an opportunity for us to gain the market and be competitive,” Celorrio said.
Lithium prices in the CIF China, Japan and Korea (CJK) market continued to rise recently, partly driven higher by the bullishness in China’s domestic market, and by strong demand from the energy storage systems (ESS) sector.
Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for lithium carbonate 99.5% Li2CO3 min, battery grade, spot prices cif China, Japan & Korea was $10-11 per kg on Tuesday November 18, up from $9.80-10.80 per kg in the previous session.
And Fastmarkets’ daily price assessment for lithium hydroxide monohydrate LiOH.H2O 56.5% LiOH min, battery grade, spot price cif China, Japan & Korea was $9.40-11.50 per kg on Tuesday, flat from the previous session.
Demand for lithium is getting higher, and the price volatility less pronounced, according to Carlos Galli, senior director at Lithium Americas.
“EVs [electric vehicles] are not being seen only as a sustainable option, but also as a product with good quality and advantages.”
Saul Feilbogen, partner at the Vitale, Manoff & Feilbogen International Law Firm, said that lithium is more consolidated than copper in Argentina, and that the copper industry has a lot to learn from lithium development in the country.
For Roberto Cacciola, president of the Argentine Chamber of Mining Companies (CAEM), it’s necessary to seek the maturation of copper projects.
“The resources are a reality, we just need to get production going,” Cacciola said.
Miner and commodities trader Glencore has submitted applications under Argentina’s Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI) framework for its El Pachón copper-molybdenum project in San Juan province ($9.5 billion) and its Agua Rica copper-gold-silver-molybdenum project in Catamarca province ($4.0 billion), according to an announcement on August 18.
Argentina’s pipeline of potential copper projects includes El Pachón, Los Azules, Josemaria, Taca Taca and MARA. CAEM estimated last year that the country has around 75.5 million tonnes in copper reserves, putting it on the same level as countries such as Russia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Argentinian province of Mendoza is reversing a historic opposition to mining, and aims to open the country’s first new copper mine since 1997, Alfredo Cornejo, the province’s governor, said in an exclusive interview with Fastmarkets in February.
“It is far easier to develop copper mines with the new government of [Argentinian President] Javier Milei,” Cornejo — who isn’t a member of Milie’s La Libertad Avanza political party — said. “One reason is that the economy has improved, so the gap between the official exchange rate and the ‘real market rate’ is less extreme. The other factor is RIGI, which makes it far easier to build large copper projects.”
“I think Argentina has good potential, but it’ll need patience,” Fastmarkets analyst Andy Cole said. “I’ve got [eyes on] projects totalling 1.3 million tpy of capacity in the development pipeline. That’s equivalent to a new Escondida [the world’s largest copper mine, in Chile]. But I don’t [forsee] any production until 2030, and we’ll be lucky to get to 500,000 tpy by 2034/2035.”
Industry sources told Fastmarkets in July 2024 that companies were just waiting for the RIGI to be approved to move ahead with their exploration of copper deposits.
The RIGI was established by Argentina in the second half of 2024 to attract large-scale foreign investment, offering incentives such as tax relief, customs benefits and legal stability over a 30-year period.
Copper market participants are preparing for difficult 2026 benchmark negotiations, Fastmarkets heard in the week to Friday November 14, with smelters attempting greater coordination and traders split between bidding aggressively or waiting for benchmark clarity.
Fastmarkets calculated the copper concentrates TC index, cif Asia Pacific — the midpoint between smelter and trader buying levels — at $(65.20) per tonne on Friday, stable from a week earlier.
Although Argentina does not yet have a tradition in mining such as in Brazil and Chile, the country is open to receiving foreign investments in its mining sector, sources told Fastmarkets.
According to Feilbogen, it’s important now to focus on bringing capital to Argentine companies.
“It’s necessary to think about the path of critical minerals in the long term. Production volume will be responsible for leveraging free market policies and opening doors to foreign capital. With the ramp-up of some projects, Argentina will become one of the world’s leading successful lithium producers. Mining cycles are long; we have to be patient and start feeling the effects of RIGI,” Feilbogen said.
“The sector generates production volume, which generates key resources that the country needs. It will be a shared benefit: producing countries vs. consuming countries. Argentina consolidating its production will result in attracting investors to the chain,” he added.
Fernando José Ciacera, national director of mining promotion and economy at the Ministry of Economy, told the audience that Argentina is open to investments.
“We have very good resources and production with projects on the ramp-up. RIGI is very good and presents an important opportunity,” Ciacera said.
Luis Lucero, Argentina’s Secretary for Mining, described Argentina as one of the most attractive jurisdictions in the world for resource exploration and development during the London Metal Exchange’s LME Week (October 13-17).
“Argentina has excellent geology, a tested legal system for mining tenure, a well-educated workforce and very few community conflicts compared with other regions,” he said. “Permitting times are reasonable and social acceptance of mining is growing.”
Lucero acknowledged that infrastructure remained a challenge, but said that Argentina’s strong fundamentals and transparent regulatory framework offered stability for long-term investment.
“Our country needs investment, and I’m confident we’ve started on a new path,” he said. “We are aware of past mistakes, but we are committed to becoming one of the freest countries in the world — one that allows business to grow and investors to make decisions without unnecessary intervention.”
Manuela Adl, senior country manager at International Finance Corporation (IFC), highlighted that there are challenges and opportunities for copper and lithium in Argentina’s mining sector, but the country seems willing to handle the challenges, including the financing ones.
“Lack of infrastructure such as transmission lines and logistics in ports have an impact. We want to solve it with the support of the government. We see an appetite to manage the challenges we have here,” Adl said.
Cacciola also said that the situation is getting better for Argentina, and that he sees cooperation regarding the projects eligible for funding. There are two things to monitor, according to Cacciola: a sustainable regulatory system and general elections in Argentina in 2027.
“Topics we need to focus on: regulatory predictability (clear rules for permits, rigorous environmental control, sustainability, logical taxation) and cooperation between provinces. Interest in Argentina has multiplied. We are committed to development, so it becomes a reality in the short term,” he said.
Barbara Cozzi, country manager at Lake Resources, said it’s important to think in a realistic future, considering the challenges the country faces currently: instability and elections.
“We need to convey confidence and reassurance to investors. But we have a great future: good infrastructure, good supply, great potential for human capital. There is interest in investing in Argentina,” Cozzi said.
It is important to consider that public and private sectors have different timing, Galli said.
“Good coordination between the two is the basic principle. This is necessary for investors’ expectations,” he said.
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