Mining Decalogue

The Decalogues will be presented to our Congress under Law 24.747 as State Policies that will be maintained, whoever governs. Until then, they are under construction for the contribution of all compatriots with knowledge and concerns in this regard.

Decalogue for the development of the country from the mining industry.

1. Putting mineral resources at the service of the present and future quality of life of the population.

Many provinces possess geological wealth. In order to make the most of it and put it at the service of the population, mining must be included as a long-term state policy of the nation and of the provinces willing to take advantage of these resources. Promoting a sustainable mining industry, a source of employment and income for the country, will allow for the expansion of the national productive matrix and a progressive increase in exports, generating sustainable progress.

2. Consolidate federal development.

The mining industry is a productive alternative in places where other industries do not develop or add value. It contributes to progress in areas far from traditional production centres and large urban conglomerates. It becomes a vector of development, as the SME industry, suppliers, commerce and services grow around it. This means new job opportunities and the development of communities, opening up prospects for social, employment and personal progress where they are scarcer.

3. Ensure a context of clear rules.

Mining projects require significant upfront investment, with a long payback period. Therefore, they need stability and clear rules of the game. This requires a stable legal framework, a predictable tax landscape, and respect for Law No. 24.196 on Mining Investments. Also by incorporating specific promotional regimes that allow them to operate reasonably in times of macroeconomic crisis, such as, for example, access to the foreign exchange market for the timely fulfilment of their foreign obligations, or the availability to import inputs and equipment necessary for productive activity. Stability, clear rules of the game and predictability with regard to the exchange rate and tax situation, with further unalterable export conditions, are indispensable for the viability of the projects to be financed.

4. Improving competitiveness.

Our country competes with others to attract productive investment. For this reason, a tax system must be planned that allows us to sustain competitive conditions at the global level. For example, withholding taxes should be reviewed. Argentina is the only country that punishes exports with a tax, generating a loss of competitiveness. VAT refund regimes should also be reviewed, as well as some provincial taxes such as stamp duty, the creation of new taxes by municipalities and/or requests for additional contributions. This will make the procedure for refunding excess tax payments more efficient, within the framework of the fiscal stability of Law N°24.196.

5. Boosting the mining value chain.

The expansion of mining projects in the country fosters the development not only of mining, but also of other sectors by contributing to the development of its periphery and impacting the economy at the national level. Mining companies make 80% of their purchases in the country, mainly from Argentinian SMEs, which initiates and fosters the development and growth of regional economies and has a positive impact on the whole country. It is important to continue generating local capacities to increase the percentage of provincial suppliers with a gender focus and from the area of influence of the projects.
To this end, strategies must be devised to strengthen and train labour and suppliers, and to improve simplistic solutions that did not work, such as the creation of mandatory labour quotas or local purchasing.

6. Promote multidisciplinary training in all links of the mining industry and local-regional employment under an inclusive perspective.

Planning for the sector's growth must be accompanied by actions to guarantee the development of human resources. It is important to generate training programmes, articulated between companies, unions and the State, to promote technical skills and university education. Employment and training programmes should also help to promote the optimisation of the implementation of inclusive and gender diversity policies.

7. Generate infrastructure for regional development.

Due to the characteristics of the places where it is developed, there are infrastructure needs for mining: energy, communication, roads, water, railways and airports. It is therefore important to design incentive schemes for investments in infrastructure that improve regional competitiveness, such as water supply, power lines, roads, etc. This not only benefits mining, but also makes it possible for other industries to develop in these provinces, taking advantage of, complementing and planning the investments needed by mining companies. This
not only benefits mining, but also makes it possible for other industries to develop in these regions, promotes the supply of water to nearby populations, improves their physical and digital communication routes, and generates other benefits that undoubtedly redound to their development and improve their quality of life. Such infrastructure should be planned in advance and taxes should be used to improve industries with a comparative advantage. At the same time, consideration should be given to using these funds to improve people's skills, irrigation systems and power lines. In addition, the contribution of non-metalliferous mining should be revalued, in its role as an economic sector with a comparative advantage.
supplier of raw materials to advance the construction of public and private infrastructure works.

8. Promote transparency, communication and dialogue.

Permanent communication on productive, environmental and social issues should be a central axis. To this end, the active participation of national and provincial authorities and companies, from the initial stages with community actors, stakeholders and society in general, must converge in spaces for informed and respectful dialogue. Generating spaces for debate that are accessible to the population allows demystifying mining based on empirical evidence and expert opinion. Society must have permanent, easily accessible and understandable information. This should include the need to provide up-to-date and reliable information on the state of the mining cadastre, reflecting day-to-day changes in the ownership of mining rights within provincial jurisdictions. This is why this state policy should include communicating the benefits that mining generates as an industry in the country.

9. Promote efficient and environmentally responsible government production and management.

Continue to encourage the development of environmentally responsible mining, ensure compliance with National Law 24,585 (Environmental Protection Law for Mining Activities), as well as other national, provincial and local regulations. Maintain the highest international standards in the industry and continue applying the technological advances of the so-called mining 4.0 to continue gaining efficiency and protecting the environment. State and industry should seek to achieve mechanisms to reduce consumption and prioritise the use of industrial quality water (salty, brackish, mineralised, etc.), specifically protecting water resources so that they remain available not only for years to come, but also for future generations. Authorities should be trained and specialised working groups should be set up for the assessment of projects and subsequent monitoring and control of compliance with environmental obligations.

10. Contributing to energy efficiency.

There is a positive feedback loop between the mining industry and renewable energies, as minerals are present both in the production of sustainable energies and in the technologies for their reserve and storage, allowing the Argentinean mining industry to be an architect of this evolution. On the other hand, the industry must commit to using the best energy solutions available, tending towards cleaner energy sources in accordance with the areas where the projects are located. The development of the necessary infrastructure plays a fundamental role in this.

Verifiable objectives:

  1. Guarantee the full application of Law 24196 on Mining Investments, avoiding both the continuity and the creation of new provisions that violate the spirit of the law, such as export duties, which generate distortions affecting the competitiveness of national production.
  2. Set a tax burden equivalent to or lower than that of the countries with which it competes for investment.
  3. Removal of the obligation to associate with Provincial State companies in order to operate without them having participated in the exploitation or investment.
  4. Eliminate restrictions. Free access to the foreign exchange market and the possibility of importing inputs and equipment necessary for productive activity that are not available on the domestic market.
  5. Create tax schemes that favour development, boosting the economic and financial matrix of mining projects. Generate laws and policies that favour the promotion of investment in exploration to increase the mining project base.
  6. To tend towards zero migration from the interior of the provincial territories to the big cities, reversing the depopulation trends of the small localities as a result of the exodus of young people. As a subsequent objective, to encourage reverse migration by generating job opportunities and the necessary infrastructure.
  7. Consolidate the control capacities of provincial state agencies, so that they are unquestionable guarantors of the quality of mining processes in the deposits and promoters of transparency, providing the certainty that the population demands. To have the necessary number of duly trained professionals, with the appropriate technical tools and dissemination of their analyses.
  8. Ensure the generation of technical information by state agencies, necessary for the advancement of the sector, coordination with other productive sectors, and to improve the quality of and access to data related to environmental and social impact.
  9. Create open data portals, favouring scientific and technical collaboration. Move towards the collection of information in real time.
  10. Promote the development of the supply chain, with a focus on fostering local capabilities. Growth of current suppliers and incorporation of new ones.
  11. Strengthen the quality of suppliers, aiming to make them competitive and even able to export goods and services to other countries in the region.
  12. Train local human resources, to increase the percentage of local recruitment and ensure that there are no bottlenecks in professional requirements.
  13. Ensure transparency mechanisms in relation to the economic contribution of mining, which reinforce and complement initiatives such as the EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, to which Argentina has adhered since 2019). Ensure the public and accessible dissemination of information by each province and the nation on the money received from the sector's contributions and the use to which they are put.
  14. Increase women's participation in the sector, through training programmes and specific calls for applications that allow women to access the formal and well-paid jobs generated by the mining industry.
  15. To promote the adaptation of the regulatory framework to shared care tasks within families, in order to favour conditions of equity that facilitate the inclusion of women.
  16. Design a comprehensive logistics plan that addresses road, air and rail transport needs.
  17. Increase the infrastructure necessary for access to clean energy sources in order to reduce the carbon footprint of mining production.
  18. Extending connectivity to mining regions. Thus improving the work of the deposits and the development possibilities of the surrounding populations.
  19. Create an Observatory or Council that represents different points of view and guarantees the fulfilment of the objectives set out in the Decalogue. This observatory will include the participation of the state, universities, localities, companies, SMEs and indigenous communities. Its functioning will allow for transparency, debate, coordination of actions and communication of the objectives of this Decalogue through a road map.

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