Mining News

Legislative news

 

Law No. 3751, published in the Official Gazette on 07/28/2021 (Santa Cruz)

The Law establishes the procedure for mine closure plans in the Province of Santa Cruz. The enforcement authority will be the province's State Secretariat on Mining.

The purpose of the mine closure plan is to implement a set of measures and actions aimed at mitigating the effects of mining activities to ensure biological, physical and geochemical stability in accordance with applicable environmental regulations. These measures and actions must be implemented in a way that protects human and environmental life, health, and safety, while managing the sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and cultural aspects of the process of closing the mine and guaranteeing that mining producers make resources available to meet the costs of closing and post-closing actions under this law.

The mine closure plan will be crafted and submitted to the enforcement authority by the mining company, on its own behalf or through external consultants, and must include technical rationale and supporting documentation.

Mining companies will need to submit a conceptual and detailed closure plan at different stages and update the plan if there are changes. The closure plan will be updated every two years together with the environmental impact report.

The owner or manager of a mining project must provide the State with a security interest to ensure full and timely compliance with the closure plan. In the event of non-compliance, the enforcement authority may collect the security interest to carry out the closing work.

Mining companies are required to comply effectively and in a timely manner with the progressive closure measures under the approved plan. Only works, areas and facilities that, for operational or commercial reasons, have not been able to close during the production phase may be subject to closure at the end of exploitation.

Mining projects that are already operating have 180 days to comply with the law following its enactment, under penalty of the sanctions established in the Mining Code.

Resolution No. 181/2021 issued by the Ministry of Mining, published in the Official Gazette on 06/24/2021 (National)

The Resolution approves the "General Guidelines for the Rational Management of Mining Waste."

The purpose of this document is to establish the general guidelines for the rational management of mining waste throughout the life cycle of a mine so as to develop criteria for the regulation of mining wastes that do not fall under current waste management standards at the national and provincial level on account of their specific characteristics and management requirements.

Lastly, the Province, the City of Buenos Aires, and Provincial Municipalities, are urged to adopt the guidelines within their respective jurisdictions.

Resolution No. 213/2021 issued by the Ministry of Mining, published in the Official Gazette on 07/26/2021 (National)

The Resolution extends for 30 calendar days the term for submitting the affidavits stipulated in Articles 8, 12, 13, 18 and 23 of the Law No. 24,196 on Mining Investments for the 2020 Fiscal Year.

 

Mining in the Media

"Josemaría: the challenges and innovation of the most important mining investment in the country" published by Diario 13 San Juan on 06/23/2021

The Josemaría mining project generates great expectations in San Juan. With USD 3,090 million, it is the largest investment in the entire country, said San Juan’s Minister of Mining.

The official stated that the project will be three or four times larger than the Veladero mine and will require a workforce of about 4,000 workers.

"Mining exports grew 37.9% during May" published by Ámbito on 07/09/2021

According to a report by the National Ministry of Mining, mining exports showed a growth of 37.9% in May compared to the value registered twelve months before. Thus, there was a year-on-year increase in the price of all raw materials of the sector.