Overview
- The Comité Evaluador approved Vicuña’s entry into the RIGI on Tuesday, formally placing the BHP‑ and Lundin‑led copper complex into the PEELP incentives category for large export projects.
- Companies and the government say the deal includes an initial investment of roughly USD 9.7 billion with the potential to reach about USD 18 billion as the project expands.
- Vicuña already reports active local work: about 2,615 employees worldwide (2,421 in Argentina), some 245 suppliers including 150 from San Juan, and roughly USD 790 million spent to date that the firm says created about 1,000 direct jobs.
- The project will be built in stages that integrate the Josemaría and Filo del Sol deposits, targets first production in 2030, and relies on an immediate USD 500 million program for transmission and the ‘Corredor Norte’ road works.
- Officials project annual exports of about USD 2.6 billion and more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs while observers say the scale and new infrastructure will shape local supply chains and regulatory and environmental scrutiny going forward.