Congress approved three new projects in Malargüe. Copper is one of the minerals with the highest demand and future prospects in the world. With an investment of $20 million dollars, prospecting and exploration work will be carried out in the El Burrero, Las Choicas, and La Adriana projects.
The three prospecting and exploration projects El Burrero, Las Choicas, and La Adriana already have the approval of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies and will be carried out with strict compliance with current regulations, especially within the framework of Law 7722. The projects were analyzed by professionals from the National University of Cuyo, the General Department of Irrigation, and the Environment, Hydrocarbons, and Legislation commissions of the provincial Legislature, which invited mining and environmental experts to present.
Environmental and social studies for the projects, located in the Malargüe department, yielded positive results, concluding that glaciers, inhabitants, herders, watercourses, or cavernous bodies will not be affected. Additionally, work will be carried out under strict environmental management protocols and plans, with special care for flora, fauna, and the subsoil.
The Minister of Energy and Environment, Jimena Latorre, emphasized that “the studies were conducted by highly qualified professionals and a team of experts whose opinions are based on scientific methods with international standards”. She also added that “the exploration and utilization of our mineral resources emerge as a fundamental imperative to meet the growing global demand for copper in the transition to renewable energies, and furthermore, represent a huge opportunity for economic growth for the province of Mendoza.”
The Projects
The three projects will be carried out by the company Geometales SA. El Burrero plans to drill 23 exploratory wells, with depths ranging from 400 to 750 meters, in order to determine the geological potential of the deposit. In Las Choicas, 17 wells will be drilled, while La Adriana will undergo prospecting work.
Las Choicas is located 135 km northwest of the city of Malargüe, and the area to be used for exploration tasks and the camp totals about 350 hectares, within an 8,853-hectare concession. The El Burrero project will explore 650 hectares, and La Adriana will undergo prospecting, i.e., subsurface exploration.
Diamond drilling will be used in all cases. This method has objectives defined beforehand by previous geochemical, geophysical, and hyperspectral surveys and has already been successfully applied in Hierro Indio, where 2,480 meters were drilled without incidents.
The estimated investments to carry out these works amount to US$20 million and, as is the case in most projects, will be carried out in several campaigns involving SMEs and labor from Mendoza. These copper deposits add to the work already being done in Hierro Indio and Cerro Amarillo, which are in the exploration stage.
The start of exploration and prospecting for these projects will be crucial for the generation of new jobs, not only directly but also in sectors such as metalworking, construction, knowledge industry, communications, gastronomy, hospitality, and various associated services.
Mendoza has the necessary infrastructure and suppliers of goods and services to drive accelerated development not only in the community hosting the project but throughout the region.
Why copper is key for Mendoza
Copper is one of the minerals with the highest demand and future prospects in the world due to its multiple applications in construction, telecommunications, electronics, and transportation. In fact, it is the key mineral for the transition to clean energy.
These three approved exploration projects add to the Cerro Amarillo exploitation project, whose Environmental Impact Statement was approved in March 2023.
According to a report by the consulting firm Wood Mackenzie, copper demand is projected to experience a significant increase, multiplying by five in the coming years. This increase is attributed to various factors, including the expanding manufacture of electric vehicles, the transition of the productive sector to renewable or low-CO2 emissions alternatives, energy storage, and the increase in the installation of electrical grids, among others.
Argentina has gone five years without producing copper, and today, according to international projections, it is positioned as one of the countries with the greatest potential. This positive outlook is based on the circumstance of sharing the same mountain range formation with who is currently the world’s leading copper producer, namely, our neighbour Chile.
