With the formal incorporation of PSJ Cobre Mendocino into Argentina’s Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI), the Mendoza-based copper project has moved beyond the stage focused exclusively on permits and political validations and entered a phase in which concrete deadlines for investment, construction, and financial compliance will begin to apply.
By Panorama Minero
The official entry into the RIGI framework activated a series of commitments requiring Minera San Jorge to execute a significant portion of the committed investment over the next two years.
Within this initial period, the company must demonstrate disbursements equivalent to 40% of the minimum amount required by the regime. According to the documentation submitted to the national government, this implies investments of approximately US$188.5 million distributed between the first and second year following approval.
The established schedule also sets a key deadline: September 1, 2028. By then, the project must have reached the minimum committed investment amount in order to maintain the benefits contemplated under the national incentive framework.
At the same time, the project’s adhesion was formally recognized as of May 13, 2026, the date that serves as the starting point for the rights and obligations associated with the RIGI regime.
The approval also positions PSJ as the first metalliferous mining project in Mendoza formally incorporated into the national regime and one of the most advanced copper developments within Argentina’s current mining expansion process.
Construction Beginning in 2027 and Operations Planned for 2029
According to the company’s projected schedule, construction is expected to begin in June 2027, while operations are planned to start in January 2029.
The development includes an open-pit mine and a conventional flotation concentrator plant designed to process copper sulfide ores with gold recovered as a by-product. Estimated capacity reaches 10 million tonnes of copper and gold mineralization annually.
Within the proposed operational design, the project contemplates the production of copper concentrate destined for international smelters, using conventional crushing and a flotation concentration circuit. The scheme also includes transport of the concentrate in sealed hermetic containers and the use of typical flotation reagents, without incorporating cyanide, sulfuric acid, or mercury, in line with current restrictions in Mendoza.
The operation was designed around an estimated average production of approximately 40,000 tonnes of fine copper annually contained in concentrate, with an initial mine life of 16 years and potential extension to approximately 27 years subject to additional exploration campaigns and resource expansion.
From a geological standpoint, the deposit contains historic reserves of approximately 48 million tonnes of ore with average grades close to 0.61% copper. Metallurgical testing conducted on primary sulfides achieved recoveries near 90% for copper, parameters serving as the technical basis for the flotation circuit design.
Feasibility, Financing, and Technical Stage
The incorporation into the regime also appears as a central tool for the project’s next financial stage. In large-scale mining, fiscal, foreign exchange, and customs stability are currently among the main factors evaluated by investors before advancing toward construction stages.
Within this framework, the file confirmed that Argentina’s Central Bank raised no objections regarding the foreign exchange aspects linked to the project, while the regime enables tax and customs incentives as well as specific mechanisms for importing capital goods.
The formalization of the RIGI approval also finds PSJ fully engaged in feasibility studies and engineering updates. Over recent months, the company has advanced infill drilling campaigns, integrated technical consulting firms, and assembled multidisciplinary teams involving more than 300 professionals connected to the project.
This technical process aims to increase geological information density, refine geotechnical parameters, optimize the future mine plan, and consolidate the economic variables necessary for a potential construction decision.
At the same time, the project has begun labor surveys in Uspallata focused on identifying technical profiles and local workforce availability ahead of the future construction stage, which preliminarily estimates peaks of approximately 3,900 workers during construction and around 2,400 direct and indirect jobs during operations.
With deadlines now established, PSJ is entering a phase in which progress will no longer be measured solely through political or environmental approvals, but rather through effective investment compliance, execution of works, technical consolidation, and the capacity to maintain the projected schedule through the end of the decade.
