First Quantum Minerals (TSX:FM) plans to apply before year-end for Argentina’s large-investment incentive regime for its Taca Taca copper project, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno said on Friday, in an investment of up to US$5.25 billion ($7.47 billion) for one of the world’s largest undeveloped copper projects.
Argentina’s RIGI tax-break mechanism is part of President Javier Milei’s drive to attract foreign capital to Argentina, including in its mining sector, and the push to turn the country into a bigger supplier of copper – a metal vital for power grids, electric vehicles and data centers.
Quirno said the project involved an initial investment of US$4.2 billion that could rise to US$5.25 billion, creating as many as 4,000 construction jobs and 2,000 operating jobs.
Located in the northwestern province of Salta, Taca Taca is a large, long-life copper project that First Quantum has said could produce about 209,000 tonnes of copper annually over a 35-year mine life, with scope for future expansion.
Taca Taca would give First Quantum a potential new long-life source of production at a time when miners are racing to secure future copper supply, and as First Quantum works to rebuild growth after the shutdown of its flagship Cobre Panama mine.
(Reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Iñigo Alexander)
Image: First Quantum Minerals
