Marco legal minero argentino

Quevedo Abogados

ArgentinA

Argentina
ignacio Celorrio Quevedo Abogados
Mining industry
1 What is the nature and importance of the mining industry?

Argentina’s mining industry is rapidly becoming a key factor in the country’s economic development, creating almost 300,000 direct and indirect jobs and annual exports of approximately US$4 billion. Mining in Argentina is mainly focused inthe Andean provinces, which traditionally have not benefited from Argentina’s significant agro-business and manufacturing industries. So far this year, at least four new mines have begun or re-started production. Also, Barrick Gold Corp has formally announced the start of construction of the Pascua-Lama Mine (the first bi-national world class gold and silver mine, located in theChilean-Argentinian border). Although the industry has faced many challenges, largely arising as a direct consequence of its exponential increase in activity from the early 1990s to date, it has sustained an almost consecutive record in direct foreign investment and employment in the country. However, proper regulation of the industry (where the flaws are primarily due to the limited experience in current industrystandards by some provinces), dealing with criticism from environmental groups and the level of contribution from mining projects to the federal and provincial states remain as key challenges for 2010. The consolidation of the industry through its new productive mines and the shortage of other sources of investment caused by the international financial crisis is producing a concoction ofcircumstances that is expected to lead some provinces to relax restrictions to the activity that were enacted in the recent past (as it has already occurred in the province of La Rioja).
Legal and regulatory structure
2 Is the legal system civil or common law-based?

party that discovers a resource to become the exclusive owner of the minerals and consequently the sole beneficiaries thereof. NationalLaw 24,196 (1993), as amended and generally referred to as the ‘Mining Investment Law’ is a key instrument which has enabled the expansion of the mining activity through an aggressive tax incentive and investment promotional framework which has been ratified by all Argentinian mining provinces.
4 What are the principal laws that regulate the mining industry? What are the principal regulatorybodies that administer those laws?

Principal law

Argentina is a federal country that applies the civil law system. It has 24 provinces, at least 12 of which are relevant for the metallic mining industry.
3 How is the mining industry regulated?

The mining industry is regulated by laws, which are applied on a nondiscriminatory basis to any individual or legal entity that requires or obtainsmining rights. The National Constitution delegates in the National Congress the power to enact the Mining Code and most of the significant mining legislation, which is uniformly mandatory across the country. On the other hand, provinces are the enforcement authority of any mining activity located in their territory, in accordance to the Mining Code provisions. The National Constitution recognises theprovinces’ ‘original ownership’ of the mineral resources located in their territory, but private parties have the right to search, take advantage and dispose of mines as if they are its owners under the Mining Code rules through a non-discretionary concession framework that enables any private
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Mining activities throughout Argentina are subject to the provisionsof the National Mining Code and to provincial laws of procedure that must follow the Mining Code guidelines. The Mining Code was enacted in 1887 and was amended several times, particularly by Laws 24,196 (Mining Investment Law), 24,224 (Mining Reorganisation Law), 24,228 (Federal Mining Agreement), 24,498 (Mining Actualisation Law) and 24,585 (Mining Environmental Law). It is a very liberal Code,...