The state-owned mining company of Catamarca highlighted the joint work with companies from 10 different countries. The 2026 planning aims to enhance the value of a greater number of properties to attract new strategic partners.
By Panorama Minero
The Catamarca state-owned company CAMYEN (Catamarca Mining and Energy) has consolidated itself as the main articulator of foreign investment in the mining sector of Catamarca, with more than 10 countries represented through their companies currently operating in the province. The president of the state-owned mining company, Hugo Moya, detailed how the company functions as a bridge between Catamarca’s geological potential and international capital, in a context where global demand for strategic minerals drives long-term investments that can extend for decades.
In this regard, the executive explained that the diversity of origins of the investors working in Catamarca reflects international confidence in the province’s mining potential. “Here there are more than 10 countries represented by their companies that are working in the province. That means there is a lot of confidence in this,” Moya stated.
With the objective of consolidating and expanding the presence of international investors, the president of the company indicated that CAMYEN prepared a strategic plan for 2026 focused on enhancing the value of a greater number of mining properties. “We have prepared, together with the Board of Directors, a plan regarding 2026 in order to be able to enhance the value of the mining properties managed by CAMYEN,” Moya explained. This planning was developed internally with its own technical capacities. “We were able to do it together with the Geology department that we have in the company,” the president detailed.
According to what he explained, the central objective is clear: “The idea is to achieve this year the enhancement of the value of a greater number of mining properties that can serve or be attractive to investors.”
In this context, he explained that CAMYEN already has international partners working on several of its properties, although at different levels of progress. “We have partners who are still carrying out exploratory work,” Moya confirmed. The official specified that these projects are at different stages of development: “Some are more advanced than others, others are right in a critical process of resource evaluation to determine whether their exploitation is viable or not.”
Moya pointed out that CAMYEN follows internationally recognized standardized procedures to investigate its properties. “There are some investigations or geological works that are carried out that are standardized, with which the industry already operates using those results,” he noted. Once these preliminary investigations are completed, progress is made toward more complex and costly stages. “Then one moves on to another stage in the investigation, which is precisely drilling until being able to build the geological map of the mineral that is being sought,” the president of CAMYEN detailed.
In another part of the interview, Moya indicated that the company uses various mechanisms to attract international investors to its properties. The standard procedure is international public tenders. “Normally we go out with international public tenders. If we have some interested parties, they buy the bidding documents and then submit bids,” he explained. However, he said that the company also considers more flexible alternatives depending on the circumstances. “It may also be the case that a direct negotiation can be carried out,” the official noted.
A third mechanism is private initiative, which combines characteristics of both procedures. “Private initiative may also exist, which is where companies obtain data on possible investments that may generate interest for them and make an offer that then ends in a tender. In this case, they have the possibility of matching the best offer that has been made in that bidding process,” Moya detailed.
Subsequently, the executive highlighted that CAMYEN’s work is framed within a broader strategy of international engagement promoted by the provincial government itself. “The government connects with the world, informing different investors of everything the province has, with the objective of having them come to Catamarca,” he stated, adding that this engagement has included trade missions to key countries in the global mining industry. The president of CAMYEN specifically mentioned the case of China, where the province maintained contacts to promote investment opportunities.
Finally, he explained that CAMYEN’s 2026 planning focuses on minerals that concentrate the interest of international investors. “We are focused on several minerals that are the ones the world is demanding. There is competition among countries for strategic mineral resources, and companies have taken note of that, so everyone is looking for the same minerals,” Moya stated. Among these strategic minerals, the official highlighted lithium, copper, and rare earths, the latter being particularly relevant in the context of competition between the U.S. and China for control of critical supply chains.
