Statement by San Juan’s Minister of Mining, Dr. Juan Pablo Perea, following the launch of the digital Mining Registry and Canon system.
By Panorama Minero
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“In addition to being attractive from a geological standpoint, we also want to be attractive from an administrative perspective — in terms of the legal certainty the province can offer.”
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“That legal certainty is based on the guiding principles set by the provincial governor when he took office: transparency first — ensuring transparent processes that society, the community, and the investment world can access — and, at the same time, developing tools that are efficient and sustainable over time.”
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“These efficient tools must also be agile processes that simplify procedures for companies or investors coming to the province, without the need to travel to the administration offices.”
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“Agility does not mean skipping steps: we maintain the same strength in oversight, but we can work in an agile, precise manner that aligns with the timelines the industry requires.”
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“This is the beginning of a comprehensive process for which we have set a one-year timeline: this digitalization effort, which starts with the mining cadastre and the payment of the canon, will unfold in several stages; the next step will be the province’s digital mining registry.”
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“In later phases, we will continue with the registry of producers, transportation permits, the registry of provincial mining suppliers, and ultimately, an environmental information hub for the province.”
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“We are carrying out this digitalization process entirely with provincial resources.”
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“Since the staff at the Ministry of Mining was not sufficient, we implemented an internship program — a win-win situation, as this became an asset. These five young men and women — advanced students from the Catholic University of Cuyo — were selected through a merit-based system of grades and interviews.”
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“These young people now fully understand the administrative process because they have translated it into a system. They are now part of the province’s mining history, as this marks a turning point: we’re talking about 160 years of information.”
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“It is also an asset for the province that these students will earn their degrees and be able to compete — whether for positions in private companies or, why not, also in public administration.”
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“During the diagnostic phase and the search for funding, we held meetings with the Minister of Economy, the CFI representative in the province, who offered support. The CFI oversaw the bidding process for the companies that developed this model.”
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“There are two companies involved — one that handled the first module and another that will be responsible for the second. The remaining modules will be awarded through staged bidding processes. This is a process that began in March, and our goal is to achieve a fully digital case file system by next March.”
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“The second module — the province’s mining registry — is currently in the testing phase, with the data entry process already completed. Once it is functioning as it should, we will present and explain it, just as we will with each module as they are implemented.”
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“The environmental aspect is another module; these are not isolated components — they are interconnected. That’s why the order in which they are being developed is not arbitrary. It is based on a comprehensive study that includes both a social and environmental module. These modules are being developed through the various secretariats, and the information will be loaded in such a way that any citizen can access the type of information they are interested in.”
