(MENAFN- The Rio Times) Javier Milei has picked copper as the fastest route to pull Argentina's mining industry out of the sidings and refill the country's dollar tank.

His government scrapped export taxes on more than two hundred mining items, offered long-horizon tax and trade stability through a big-ticket investment regime, and trimmed procedures inside the Mining Secretariat.

The sales pitch to investors is straightforward: clear rules, fewer hurdles, and a country sitting on the same Andean copper belt that made Chile a powerhouse.

The opportunity is real. After the Alumbrera mine closed in 2018, Argentina's copper output dwindled to almost nothing. Yet San Juan, Catamarca, Salta, and Jujuy host deposits that could change the export map.

Projects now in the queue-Vicuña in the high Andes, El Pachón near the Chilean border, MARA/Agua Rica in Catamarca, and others-aim to restart large-scale copper production over the next decade.



Officials talk about foreign mining investment climbing from roughly $1.4 billion in 2024 to about $7.5 billion in 2026 as copper and lithium move from plans to construction, with sector exports potentially rising into the tens of billions within ten years.
Argentina's Copper Hinge on Rules and Infrastructure
The story behind the story is about discipline versus drift. To convert geology into cash flow, Argentina must build roads, power lines, and rail that can shoulder mountain logistics; rebuild a skilled workforce after years without copper; and cut financing costs by proving the rules will not shift mid-project.

One law looms largest: the Glacier Law, which protects roughly 16,000 glaciers and periglacial zones. Its broad application can freeze permits.

The government and mining provinces want tighter definitions to protect ice while allowing projects outside those zones to proceed. Why this matters for readers abroad: copper is the metal inside every modern grid, data center, and electric vehicle.

If Argentina executes-steady rules, workable permits, credible infrastructure-it becomes a reliable, non-Asian source of a strategic input and earns the hard currency it chronically lacks.

If it stalls, capital and talent will keep flowing to neighbors on the same mountain chain, and Argentina's copper will remain a promise rather than a plan.

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