Mining News - February 2024

Legislative News

 

Law 8419 of the Legislature of the Province of Salta, published in the Official Gazette of Salta on January 30, 2024

This Law modifies article 29, paragraph 3 of Law 6611, updating the values of the fees of the Mining Court and Mining and Energy Secretariat. Among them, it updates the applications fee for the exploration permit concession, for reporting of mine discovery, for  easement application.

Decree 12036/2023 of the Ministry of Economic Development and Production of the Province of Jujuy, published in the Official Gazette of Jujuy on January 31, 2024

This Decree creates the Headquarters of the Mining Police Area, under the Provincial Directorate of Mining.

General Resolution 10/2024 of the Ministry of Justice, published in the Official Gazette on February 08, 2024

This Resolution updates the amount of capital stock as from which limited companies are subject to permanent governmental supervision, increasing it from ARS 50,000,000 to ARS 2,000,000,000,000. Thus, those corporations whose capital stock is lower than the new amount will not be subject to the permanent supervision regime and may not appoint a comptroller. Likewise, they may appoint a unipersonal board of directors.

Resolution 164 of the Secretary of State for Energy and Environment of Río Negro, published in the Official Gazette on February 22, 2024

This Resolution updates and modifies the fees and tariffs the Secretariat of Environment and Climate Change collects. It also incorporates the Certificate of Free Debt as a tool to prove that subjects are up to date with their taxes established by the environmental regulations in force.

General Resolution 5/2024 of the Public Registry of Commerce, published in the Official Gazette on February 23, 2024

This Resolution amends article 3 of the Resolution 2/2020, issued by Public Registry of Commerce, regarding the guarantee representatives of companies incorporated abroad must provide. It states that only the legal representatives of foreign companies registered under article 118 of the General Corporations Law must provide a guarantee. At the same time, it establishes the sum for this guarantee.

Likewise, it states that legal representatives of foreign companies registered under the terms of article 123 of the Law may also not present a guarantee.

General Resolution 6/2024 of the Public Registry of Commerce, published in the Official Gazette on February 26, 2024

This Resolution establishes the continuity of the SITIG application for joint stock companies not included in article 299 of the General Corporations Law 19550, because the entry into force of the digital filing that had been established through General Resolution IGJ 15/2023 was suspended.

General Resolution 7/2024 of the Public Registry of Commerce, published in the Official Gazette on February 27, 2024

This Resolution repeals Resolution IGJ 22/2020, which had established the control of real estate operations of Simplified Joint Stock Companies.

Disposition 6 of the General Directorate of Mining of the Province of La Rioja, published in the Official Gazette of La Rioja on February 27, 2024

This Disposition updates the fees of the forms the General Directorate of Mining requests. Among them, the forms for manifestation of discovery, report of legal work, request for survey, request for prospecting permit, minimum exploration program, request for area release, survey report, request for water easement, request for right-of-way easement, request for vacant mine, and mining procedure code.

General Resolution 8/2024 of the Public Registry of Commerce, published in the Official Gazette on March 04, 2024

This Resolution repeals General Resolution IGJ 20/2020, which had limited foreign administrators to appoint as representatives only members of the administrative body of the simplified joint stock companies residing in Argentina, and prohibited appointing third parties. Further, it required that specific powers of attorney had to be registered before the IGJ without allowing powers of attorney with broad powers.

General Resolution IGJ 8/2024 repealed this restriction, as it was considered an overreach of the regulatory powers of the IGJ. In this sense, foreign administrators may appoint as representative a member of the administrative body or a third party, who will receive notifications and may carry out procedures on behalf of the administrator without the need to register powers of attorney.

Resolution 47/2024 of the Ministry of Justice, published in the Official Gazette of the Nation on March 13, 2022

This Resolution creates the “Commission for the Comprehensive Reform of the Corporate Legal Regime,” to analyze and propose a project to reform Argentine corporate legislation.

 

Mining in the media

 

“The Centenario-Ratones lithium project will begin its production in the second half of the year,” published in Salta Gobierno on February 08, 2024

The start of production of the Centenario Ratones project for the second half of 2024 was announced within the framework of the meeting between the Minister of Production and Sustainable Development of Salta, Martín de los Ríos, the Secretary of Mining and Energy, Romina Sassarini, and the CEO of the Eramet and Tsingshan group. The plant will produce 24,000 tons of lithium carbonate. It also foresees an investment of USD 1 billion for its second phase of operations.

“Copper in San Juan: AbraSilver initiates exploration in La Coipita,” published in Panorama Minero on February 14, 2024

AbraSilver, an advanced-stage exploration company, together with Teck Resources Limited, has announced they will start drilling activities at the La Coipita copper-gold porphyry, in San Juan. The company has also entered into an earn-in and joint venture option agreement with Teck on the La Coipita project, through which Teck can fund up to USD 20 million in exploration expenses and make certain other payments to earn up to 80% in interests.

“The Government announced investments by an Israeli company in the lithium industry,” published in Infobae on March 06, 2024

XtraLit, an Israeli company incorporated in 2021, will land in Argentina with a USD 104 million fund for lithium exploration, technology deployment, and opening of a Research and Development laboratory led by local scientists.

“The leading Chinese lithium company pays USD 70 million to participate in a project in Salta,” published in Clarín on March 06, 2024

The leading lithium producer in China, Ganfeng Lithium, announced plans to purchase a 14.8% stake in the Pastos Grandes project in the Province of Salta, by paying USD 70 million. Currently, this venture is operated by the Argentine subsidiary of the Canadian mining company Millennial Lithium Corp.