A court in Mendoza’s province has unanimously rejected all precautionary injunctions filed against the PSJ Cobre Mendocino copper project, reaffirming the validity of its Environmental Impact Declaration (DIA) and the provincial law that ratified it.
By Panorama Minero
The ruling, issued by Mendoza’s First Associated Case Management Court, allows the project—located in the Uspallata district—to continue advancing, while the underlying legal challenges proceed on their merits. The court found no evidence of certain, serious, or irreversible environmental damage, or any manifest illegality in the approval process that would justify suspending the project at this stage.
The injunctions had been requested by environmental NGOs, an Indigenous community, and individual plaintiffs, who sought to halt the project while judicial proceedings were ongoing. The court concluded that the exceptional legal requirements for precautionary measures were not met, emphasizing the lack of concrete, project-specific technical evidence of imminent environmental harm.
In its decision, the court set clear limits on the application of the precautionary principle, aligning with Argentine Supreme Court precedent. It ruled that the principle does not justify the automatic suspension of lawfully approved projects based solely on hypothetical or speculative risks, and that any precautionary measures must be proportional, reasonable, and compatible with sustainable development.
The court also highlighted the presumption of legitimacy of the DIA, noting that it resulted from a comprehensive administrative process involving technical assessments, public participation, and environmental oversight, and was subsequently ratified by the Mendoza Legislature through provincial law.
PSJ Cobre Mendocino is currently in the feasibility stage and aims to produce copper concentrate. The project involves an estimated investment of more than US$559 million during construction and start-up, with a projected mine life of at least 16 years and average annual production of around 40,000 tonnes of contained copper in concentrate.
While the ruling does not resolve the substantive legal claims, it establishes an important precedent for environmental litigation in Mendoza. The court underscored that judicial oversight should not replace administrative or legislative decision-making in the absence of clear evidence of illegality or environmental harm.
For the province, the decision reinforces regulatory certainty at a time when mining is re-emerging as a central element of Mendoza’s economic agenda. More broadly, the ruling contributes to the national debate on balancing environmental protection with productive development.
