Glencore secured Argentina RIGI approval for the $4 billion MARA project in Catamarca: the income tax rate is cut to 25 percent from 35 percent, with duty-free equipment imports and export-duty exemptions after three years. Agua Rica holds 1.2 billion measured and indicated tonnes grading 0.47 percent copper plus gold, silver and molybdenum; planned output is about 200,000 tonnes of copper concentrate a year for the first 10 years over a 23-year life.
Alumbrera’s restart is now targeted for first production in the second half of 2027, six months early, with about 2,000 people on site. The approval is not a final investment decision; the exploitation-phase environmental report was submitted to Catamarca last month. Glencore has also applied for RIGI benefits for El Pachon, at roughly $9.5 billion for the first phase.
The terms set the template for Argentina’s mining incentive regime. With copper at records, the economics of long-life Argentine copper are being repriced in real time.