The National Government holds a firm commitment to relaunching mining activity in Argentina. There have been clear signs of this like the removal of export taxes on this activity.
Currently, a bill is being hammered aimed at the approval of the New Federal Mining Agreement. This instrument is expected to homogenise national and provincial legislations so as to strenghthen the fiscal stability the investors are looking for . One of the main obstacles to this activity is the possible environmental impact although the Secretariat for Minery has firmly stated that responsible mining activities are entirely compatible with the concern and care of the environmment. Moreover, according to the Secretariat for Minery an agreement with the Mutual Guarantee Society Garantizar has been signed. It seeks prospective work with SMEs mainly and is focused on provision of services and those companies committed to mining exploration. According to the Secretary of Minery of the Nation Daniel Meilàn, 30 new companies came into the country and settled in different provinces, during 2016, in order to develop exploratory activites and there are many projects that are about to pass on to the exploratory stage. Among them, Sales de Jujuy, Cauchari-Olaroz de Minera Exar and Sal de Vida for the extraction of Lithium can be mentioned. The Salares de la Puna concentrate more than 80% of the world a key player in the energetic revolution. On the other hand, there has been a boost in the development of renewable energies . The approximate 2 % contribution of electric power and the firm decision of the government set on the growth of this sector, provides the country with both an extraordinary setting and opportunity as well. However, companies like MSU are developing thermal power projects with state of the art technology . Even though the Argentine electric power has reached a critical level, multiple actions are being put into practice so as to search for a diversified and sustainable energy matrix. I suggest reading the articles published in our magazine so as to be able to go deeply into these issues.
