The application of the water-use fee to exploration projects opens a key discussion on predictability, competitiveness, and clear rules in the return of provincial mining.
By Panorama Minero
As Mendoza attempts to reactivate its mining agenda after more than two decades of stagnation, internal tensions have emerged that are not related to Law 7,722 or political approval, but rather to the cost structure that applies even before production exists. In this context, the fee that certain mining projects must pay in order to register with the Single Mining Registry (RUM), under the authority of the General Department of Irrigation, has become a factor that generates friction within the industry and also within the provincial government itself.
The current framework establishes significant amounts for ventures that, in many cases, are barely at the exploration stage. It is an annual payment that is not associated with production, royalties, or actual income, but simply with access to a registry. In practice, for the sector, it appears as a high entry cost, to which inspections or services are also added, whose costs must likewise be covered by companies or entrepreneurs.
What the RUM is and why it is applied
The Single Mining Registry was created within the scope of Irrigation—according to official information—with the aim of organizing, registering, and overseeing mining activities that may pose some risk of affecting water resources, whether surface or groundwater. The framework incorporates criteria of progressivity according to the project stage (prospecting, exploration, exploitation, or closure) and distinguishes between metal mining and non-metal mining.
From the agency, it is noted that not all projects are covered. According to the current regulations and Circular No. 03/2025, only those ventures that carry out direct interventions on the land and that present a potential risk to water—such as drilling or invasive geophysical methods—are required to register. The initial stages of prospecting and preliminary exploration, which make up the majority of projects in Mendoza, are exempt except in specific cases.
Along these lines, Irrigation assures that the RUM was conceived as an environmental control instrument.
The amounts at stake
According to the current resolution, the present values of the annual fee reach significant figures even for non-producing projects. For metal deposits, the fee amounts to ARS 26.7 million per year at the prospecting and exploration stage, and exceeds ARS 53.4 million per year at the exploitation stage.
In a context where exploration is, by definition, a high-risk activity with no guaranteed return, these values explain why the RUM has become one of the most sensitive issues at the start of mining activity in Mendoza, especially for junior projects or those backed by medium-sized capital that do not yet generate economic cash flow.
Beyond the institutional version, within the mining sector the debate does not revolve solely around the legality of the fee, but rather around its economic impact on projects that still do not generate income. In exploration, every dollar counts: geological studies, field campaigns, drilling, logistics, specialized services, and environmental compliance make up a high-cost structure, especially in high-mountain areas.
In this context, paying millions of pesos annually solely for registration appears as a disincentive, particularly for junior projects or those with medium-sized capital. The situation becomes more sensitive when considering that Mendoza still has no metal mining in production.
The gray area: what is considered “invasive” and who defines it
Added to this debate is a point that is not yet clearly defined in Irrigation’s documentation: who determines, and under what technical criteria, when a drilling activity or a geophysical method becomes considered invasive. Neither the text of the RUM nor the complementary resolutions detail with precision the procedure, the technical threshold, or the specific authority that establishes this condition on a case-by-case basis.
This interpretive gap generates concrete uncertainty. In practice, any of the 34 projects approved in the first round of the Malargüe Western Mining District (MDMO) could move forward with geophysical campaigns as part of their exploration stage. However, there are already projects that have been charged the fee and others that have been formally notified within the scope of Irrigation to regularize their situation.
This situation has led to several meetings between business chambers, technical experts, and provincial government officials, with the aim of understanding how the fee will be applied going forward, what the definitive criteria will be, and whether there will be adjustments in its implementation. The issue gains greater relevance because the fee is already in force and everything indicates that updated amounts will be announced in the short term.
A framework that strains the narrative of an “orderly return” of mining
The RUM fee thus adds to a broader discussion: how the return of mining is structured in a province seeking predictability, competitiveness, and clear rules. While the provincial executive promotes mining districts, public hearings, and participatory control schemes, administrative instruments emerge that may negatively impact the initial economic equation of projects.
Within the government itself, the issue also generates discomfort. Not because the role of Irrigation or the need to control waters—a central asset in Mendoza—is questioned, but because the message to investors is contradictory: exploration is promoted, yet its start-up is made more expensive through high fees and early fixed costs.
The challenge: environmental control without discouraging investment
The underlying debate is not whether water control should exist, but how that control is calibrated according to the real stage of each project and the scale of the activity. In a province attempting to rebuild its mining learning curve, the balance between environmental oversight and economic viability emerges as one of the key elements of the process.
The RUM, as it is currently designed, exposes an inevitable tension: guaranteeing resources for oversight without becoming— in practice—an advance tax on a mining industry that is only just beginning to take its first steps. Resolving this tension will be part of the challenge if Mendoza aims to consolidate sustained, orderly, and competitive mining development over time.
