Buenos Aires, January 8 (NA) – In the context of the presentation of mega-mining projects for Argentina, President Javier Milei received this Thursday the executives of the Vicuña project, which will exploit one of the world's largest copper, gold, and silver reserves, in the province of San Juan. The company includes an alliance of two mining giants like BHP - the world's largest - and Lundin Mining, and they applied for the Regime of Incentive for Large Investments (RIGI), according to the Argentine News Agency. Vicuña operates at over 4,200 meters above sea level at the Josemaria and Filo del Sol deposits. Now, it seeks for the Government to declare it a Long-Term Strategic Export Project (PEELP) to legally protect its activity and allocate about 2,000 million dollars in the first two years from the approval of its RIGI application. The total guaranteed investment would be around US$ 15,000 million, one of the largest foreign direct investments in Argentine history, but the exact figure will be known throughout this year. In the first quarter of 2026, Vicuña will present a technical report where it will be defined how the project will function, the drilling campaigns, the objectives, the necessary infrastructure, and other associated services. In 2025, the mining companies BHP (Australia) and Lundin Mining (Canada) disbursed about US$ 400 million in San Juan, a figure that approximately doubled that of the previous year and could double again in 2026. The funds will be allocated to drilling campaigns; preliminary work necessary before starting pre-construction, such as roads to the mine and the camp; and the hiring of suppliers, mostly local, such as the catering service, which was awarded to the San Juan-based Caterwest, from businessman Martín Ossa. Along with Milei at the Casa Rosada were the Foreign Minister, Pablo Quirno, and on the part of the companies participated Jack Lundin, CEO of Lundin Mining; Carlos Ramírez, Vice President at BHP of the Vicuña Joint Venture and President of the Board; Ron Hochstein, CEO of Vicuña Corp.; and José Morea, Director for Argentina and Chile of Vicuña Corp. As communicated, "during the meeting, the importance of continuing to advance with the reform agenda to accelerate large-scale investments, with predictability and clear rules, was highlighted". Among them is the adaptation of the "Glaciers Law", whose discussion will be reactivated in Congress starting in February.
