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General Precious Metals
Argentina to pass new mining law this week
Legislation is part of plan to double investment in the sector to $25bn in eight years.
Argentine authorities, industry players and unions are expected to sign this week a long awaited federal mining agreement that unifies existing legislation across the country, as part of an ongoing effort to jump-start investment in the sector.
The nation, once a favourite of mining investors, has fallen behind its neighbours Chile and Peru despite containing rich deposits of copper, gold, silver and zinc.
Until now, local regulations were not only tough, but also diverse, with seven of the country's 23 provinces having a full ban on the use of cyanide over to environmental concerns.
Since taking office in late 2015, President Mauricio Macri has been adopting measures to revive the country’s mining industry. One of the first ones was eliminating a 5% tax on mining and energy companies in February last year.
He also revoked a prohibition on foreign mining companies sending profits made in Argentina out of the country.
Now, his administration is about to pass a nationwide mining law in hopes to pave the way for Macri’s most ambitious goal — to double investment in the sector to $25 billion in eight years.