With the activation of the UGA for PSJ Cobre Mendocino, the province adds its second environmental management unit—and the first for an exploitation project—in a key step toward unlocking mining activity after two decades of stagnation.

This initiative is moving forward in coordination with the National University of Catamarca (UNCA), within the framework of the transfer process and the new restructuring of Yacimientos Mineros de Agua de Dionisio (YMAD), a step that will grant the province majority control over the management of the state-owned mining company, together with the National University of Tucumán (UNT).

With projects beginning to move forward, the sector’s main constraint is no longer regulatory or geological, but rather the logistical capacity needed to sustain exploration.

While other jurisdictions negotiate with the federal government, Mendoza supports the bill that strengthens the provincial role in identifying protected areas and seeks to provide predictability for mining investment.

It signed an agreement with Distrocuyo to begin studies that will allow the construction of a new 220 kV transmission line and a transformer station in the high mountains of Mendoza. In this way, they aim to organize the project’s engineering and reduce uncertainty in an operation with high energy demand.

The start of drilling will be postponed a few weeks due to logistical reasons, in parallel with the activation of El Destino, Sofi, and Cuprum following environmental and legislative approvals.

With independent environmental permits and low-impact prospecting work, both projects mark a new front of mining activity outside the Malargüe Western Mining District (MDMO).

The Government of the Province of Catamarca and the National University of Tucumán (UNT) have finalized the signing of strategic agreements that complete the transfer process of Yacimientos Mineros de Agua de Dionisio (YMAD).

At a high-level meeting recently held in Catamarca, Rio Tinto reaffirmed its strategic commitment to the province and to the development of Argentina’s lithium sector, during talks with Governor Raúl Jalil and his counterparts from Salta, Gustavo Sáenz, and Jujuy, Carlos Sadir—members of the Regional Lithium Board.

Uranium 2024: Resources, Production and Demand, publication issued in 2025, presents the most recent review of world uranium market fundamentals and provides a comprehensive statistical profile of the uranium industry. This analysis is led by Luis López (1).

The National Executive Branch included the amendment of the Glaciers Law in the extraordinary sessions, where environmental, mining, and federalism-related issues will be debated.

In modern mining, competitive advantage is no longer won solely at the deposit or in the process plant. It is increasingly defined in the supply chain: the system that ensures operational continuity, enables innovation, and sustains the social license to operate.