BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) -Miner Glencore expects to produce 1 million tons of copper through its projects in Argentina over the next 10 to 15 years, the company’s CEO in the Latin American country said on Thursday.
Speaking at an event organized by the Council of the Americas, Glencore’s Argentina CEO Martin Perez de Solay added that Argentina could supply the global copper market with 2 million tons of copper in 10 years.
Glencore earlier this week submitted applications for the government’s Large Investment Incentive Regime (RIGI) regarding its El Pachon and Agua Rica copper projects in Argentina.
The company has applied to RIGI for a planned combined production of 500,000 metric tons from those projects when they come online, Perez de Solay added, without mentioning a timeframe.
Argentina has not produced copper since the closure of the Bajo de la Alumbrera mine in 2018.
Peers such as BHP have also announced plans to invest in the South American nation, which mining industry officials have said could become another major copper producer, though neighbors Chile and Peru have long dominated the sector.
(Reporting by Lucila Sigal; Writing by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez; Editing by Daina Beth Solomon and Sarah Morland)
