Argentina ranked third in the region in the 2022 mining exploration investment ranking, according to a June report prepared by the Mining Secretariat based on information from S&P Capital, which analyses the budgets allocated by companies to the exploration stage by year and by country. Last year, Argentina accumulated US$385.4 million in exploration budgets, ranging from initial to advanced.
At the top of the list in Latin America are Chile, with an investment of US$ 713.2 million, and Peru with US$ 533 million. The overall ranking is led by Canada with 20.6% of the total budgeted by companies for mineral exploration, followed by Australia with 17.8% and the United States with 12.3%.
However, the report “Mineral Exploration. Series of studies for mining development”, published in early June by the portfolio headed by Fernanda Ávila, highlights that exploration budgets in Argentina between 2015 and 2021 grew by 94.8% in total, while in Chile and Peru they decreased -14.52% and -11.35%, respectively. Behind Argentina, are Brazil with US$ 339.9 million, Ecuador with US$ 280.3 million and, lastly, Colombia with US$ 131.6 million and Bolivia with US$ 42 million.
Potential
Jorge González is head of the National Directorate of Mining Promotion and Economy and was part of the team that prepared the report. In an interview with EconoJournal, he pointed out that “from the Secretariat, we believe that starting to discuss and talk about these issues is of vital importance, since mining exploration not only allows us to dimension all the potential the country has, getting to know its resources better, but also makes it possible to increase the useful life of the projects already in operation”. He added that “in provinces such as San Juan and Santa Cruz, this type of investment is more than desirable, because it helps to sustain mining production, jobs and provincial revenue, among other things”.
In addition to the expansions of the projects in production, there are a total of 92 projects in Argentina that are in exploration, either in the initial or advanced stages. Lithium and gold exploration projects account for almost 30 per cent each, while silver exploration accounts for 20 per cent and copper for 14 per cent.
SOURCE: econojournal.com.ar