Glencore Invests US$13.5 Billion in Argentina Copper Growth as US Cracks

Glencore (LSE:GLEN,OTC Pink:GLCNF) has submitted applications to place two of its flagship copper projects in Argentina under a new investment regime.

The Switzerland-based commodities giant said it is seeking to include the El Pachón deposit in San Juan province and the Agua Rica deposit in Catamarca under Argentina’s recently introduced Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI).

Together, the projects represent a planned capital investment of about US$13.5 billion over the next decade — US$9.5 billion for El Pachón and US$4 billion for Agua Rica.

Both sites would benefit from a long-term economic framework with enhanced investor protections under the RIGI program, which the administration of President Javier Milei launched this year to attract foreign investment.

“President Milei and his administration must be credited for introducing the RIGI. This framework has changed the investment landscape in Argentina, providing a key catalyst to attract major foreign investment to the country,” Glencore Chief Executive Officer Gary Nagle said in the company’s announcement.

Martín Pérez de Solay, CEO of Glencore Argentina, added: “The RIGI provides a key platform for the development of Argentina’s significant natural resource endowment. I am confident that the mining sector can be a major contributor to the Argentinian economy with the El Pachón and Agua Rica projects supporting the country’s ambition to become one of the world’s leading copper producers.”

El Pachón is a large-scale copper and molybdenum deposit with estimated mineral resources of about 6 billion metric tons of ore, averaging 0.43 percent copper, 2.2 grams per tonne silver and 130 grams per metric ton molybdenum.

Agua Rica, meanwhile, hosts roughly 1.2 billion metric tons of ore with average grades of 0.47 percent copper, 0.20 grams per tonne gold, 3.40 grams per metric ton silver and 0.03 percent molybdenum.

The Agua Rica ore would be processed at the existing Alumbrera facilities, 35 kilometers away, through the MARA project framework.

The scale of Glencore’s expansion comes amid a broader strategic race among Western producers to secure supplies of critical minerals needed for clean energy technologies, electric vehicles and defense applications.

Copper in particular is considered vital to global electrification, and analysts warn that rising demand could soon outstrip supply.