Overview
- The Comité Evaluador approved Vicuña’s entry into the Régimen de Incentivo para Grandes Inversiones on June 16, 2026, marking the latest formal step in the project’s push toward a shareholders’ final investment decision.
- Vicuña combines the Josemaría and Filo del Sol deposits with an initial investment of about US$9.7 billion that companies say could rise to roughly US$18 billion over later stages.
- The project’s Preliminary Economic Assessment estimates average annual output of roughly 395,000 tonnes of copper, 711,000 ounces of gold and 22.2 million ounces of silver in the first 25 years and projects more than US$2.6 billion in annual exports and about 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.
- Viguña already runs active operations and local hiring with about 2,615 workers globally and 245 supplier companies, and the developers report extensive local training and contractor engagement in San Juan.
- Major conditions remain before full construction and production, including shareholders’ FID targeted this year, additional environmental and regulatory permits, transmission and desalination agreements and transport corridors with main construction work planned from 2027 and first concentrate targeted for 2030.