On Tuesday, the Chairman and CEO of McEwen Mining, Rob McEwen, along with McEwen Copper's VP and General Manager of Los Azules, Michael Meding, lawyer Carmen Diges, and VP of Corporate Development, Stefan Spears, held a meeting with the Argentine President. During the meeting, they discussed the current economic and legislative progress made by the government and the advancements towards the development of the Los Azules copper mining project, located in the Calingasta department, San Juan.
Meding explained during the meeting that the current work at Los Azules aims to gather all the necessary technical information to draft and publish a Feasibility Study by early next year. Los Azules currently operates 22 drilling rigs, making it the largest fleet of its kind in the world.
The company plans to commence mine construction in 2026 and begin production in 2029 if the necessary environmental and sectoral permits are obtained and financing is secured. Los Azules submitted its Environmental Impact Report in April 2023, which is currently under evaluation by the mining authorities of San Juan.
In conversation with Javier Milei, Rob McEwen elaborated that Los Azules is a robust project that will be developed based on regenerative environmental principles, using innovative technologies to produce copper for industrial use, contributing to alleviating the significant deficit in copper production required for the energy transition. He emphasized that advancing investments of billions of dollars in a project like Los Azules requires free access to the foreign exchange market, clear and stable rules, agility in importing capital goods, and a competitive tax burden—issues that the government has on its agenda and that will enable new investments in the country and development for Argentinians.
Following the meeting, Rob McEwen expressed, "Argentina has a great opportunity and significant potential to become a mining leader, not only regionally but also internationally, and that is what we discussed with President Milei."
