Today is Mining Day in Argentina, in commemoration of the law passed on 7 May 1813 by the Constituent General Assembly, which is considered the first Mining Development Law.
Mining is one of the key sectors for the sustainable and sustainable economic development and growth of our country, a country with 65% of children and adolescents under the poverty index and with localities where it reaches 72%. Because it is precisely in many of our poorest provinces, with the highest unemployment and informal employment, where the possibilities for mining development are greatest.
However, slogans such as "Drying, plundering and polluting mining", "Water is worth more than gold", "Water is not negotiable" or directly "No to mining" have been deployed in different marches against mining operations.
Added to this is a campaign of misinformation about the tax burden, which is made to look like one of the lowest in the region when it is exactly the opposite. "They're stealing your lithium" is the new catchphrase.
The ill-intentioned campaign aims to confuse and deceive the public just to create the need for a bill that, contrary to what is happening in all the countries that are growing and developing in the world, seeks to nationalise the exploration and exploitation of reserves, declare the mineral a "strategic resource" and modify the Mining Code and the Investment Law. Soup again.
👉🏼 The mining conflict has been going on for a long time, almost 30 years considering the opening of the Bajo de la Alumbrera mine. This is yet another "rift" (and that's the first time...) that has been framed as "people vs. mining companies". This has been the result of strong pressure from anti-mining movements allied to the historic preachers of "living with what is ours" who have brought us to our current decline, the result of the lack of investment and its consequent lack of private job creation.
🗣 The new disinformation campaign is underway, so it is very important to open your eyes and ears; to be informed with quality data.
Let's see:
Is mining activity a polluting, drying, plundering, "anti-sovereign" activity that deserves to be banned from today's economic activities?👷🏽👷 Undoubtedly, like any other human activity, it can cause damage to the environment. In order to avoid this, the mining sector is working at different levels to move ever closer to achieving a triple positive impact: environmentally, economically and socially. The development of all countries, including our own, the migration towards cleaner energy and advanced technologies has mining as an indispensable basis.
⚠️ It is not possible to think of a future without mining as an essential economic activity. The house where you live, the mirror where you look at yourself before going to work or school, the materials that allow the bus, train, car, the bike you use to get around, the telephone or computer from which you read this, the wiring that provides electricity or connects the wifi modem, and countless other objects that surround us, are the result of mining activity. To all this we must add the development of clean energies: solar panels, storage batteries, wind towers, electric cars, etc., which will require more and more minerals for their production and operation.
Ignoring mining is not possible in the world we live in. Mining cannot be vetoed if we want to be an advanced, wealth-generating, prosperous and inclusive country.
As for the "plunder" generated from the industry, it is estimated that about 80% of the income generated stays in the country, with a strong impact on provincial economies. Mining not only leaves a percentage in royalties and taxes paid directly to the State (with the highest income tax in the region in real terms), but the mining company has highly paid employees (i.e. they also pay profits), contractors, suppliers of all types of inputs (transport, infrastructure, clothing, safety elements, etc.).
A huge chain that generates work, movement, consumption, development and that in all its extension also pays an enormous amount of taxes: from IB, bank credit debit, profits, reaching the final consumers with VAT. All collected by the National State.
The issue is how our state administers these taxes! (we will continue to discuss this in other posts and our Agoras).
Furthermore, mining, if the contracts for its establishment are carried out intelligently, can have a positive impact on infrastructure investment that allows for a more efficient use of resources, such as the improvement of irrigation ditches and canals, drip irrigation instead of drip irrigation, the waterproofing of strategic passes and the recovery of wells, or the support of productive diversification projects.
But what about the pollution? The water that is wasted and taken away from us?
With regard to the pollution generated by the activity, it is important to know that mining has different stages and that the entry into operation of the project is only one of them. Prior to this, exploration studies are carried out, followed by construction, start-up, the process itself and mine closure. The latter is planned from the early stages of the mining process, i.e. preparation starts from the very beginning. This is why the role of civil society and the State together are key to ensure the correct fulfilment of the steps set out in the projects, a control that the industry itself stipulates and in which it is open to be accompanied. Once again: be informed and participate.
🤔 How much water does the mining industry use?
Water is used in mining for processing and transporting minerals, irrigation of roads and employee consumption. In mining operations, water is obtained from the ground, streams, rivers, lakes and oceans.
Taking the example of the mining-intensive province of San Juan, water use in the mining industry is less than 1%, in line with the national average. In other words, for every 100 litres of water, 1 litre is used in mining. This average is well below other countries with a mining tradition such as Chile and Australia.
🇨🇱 🇦🇺 In Chile, where mining contributes over 17% to the country's GDP, mining consumes 5.4%, irrigation for agriculture 76.7% and drinking water is used 18%. In Australia, mining consumes 6% while the agricultural sector consumes 67%.
It is important to remember what we mentioned in our post on water, where we highlighted that the Rio de la Plata, which has a flow of 20 million litres per second, is equivalent to approximately 250 litres of water per inhabitant of the planet per day that is salinised without any use. *
🧐 Shouldn't we concentrate on not wasting this huge flow of water, develop water supply and irrigation throughout our territory (two thirds of which is desert and semi-desert) instead of being distracted by more "mining water" cracks?
Such an assertion becomes flesh and blood after three years of the worst drought since 1920, which will deprive us of more than USD 20 billion in exports: investment, work, consumption, progress and development. Our poverty will increase even more.
‼️🗣️Ciudadanos:
Let us be a civil society committed to the development of Argentina.
It is our duty to inform ourselves and at the same time our right to demand the correct use of the resources we have in our vast (and potentially very rich) territory to sustain our development and growth.
💪🏼 We must do this by expanding our knowledge and with responsibility. More than half of Argentines cannot wait any longer.
To keep up to date with our proposals, to keep informing ourselves and to work together for the prosperous Argentina we long for:
Join in! 🙌🇦🇷:
www.planpaisargentina.org
Plan País Argentina is you!
#YoIWantAPlanforMyCountry 🎯
#PlanCountryArgentina 🇦🇷
#SetAgenda 📔
#TodosJuntos 🤝🏼
1TP5MiningIndustry ⛏️
#MMineryandEnvironment ♻️
*Without water there is nothing: https://www.planpaisargentina.org/sin-agua-no-hay-nada/
Sources:
📌 https://cenital.com/catamarca-mineria-y-conflicto-quien-y-como-se-decide-sobre-los-territorios/
📌 https://cenital.com/la-mineria-y-el-conflicto-en-chubut/
📌 https://oncediario.com.ar/noticia-negocio-concreto-de-la-mineria-para-argentina-el-80-de-la-renta-queda-en-el-pa%C3%ADs
📌 https://oncediario.com.ar/noticia-san-juan-buscan-construir-lineas-electricas-para-potenciar-mineria-produccion📌 https://repositorio.segemar.gov.ar/handle/308849217/2864;jsessionid=F17ADD1F517C34D3E0BE21C6B05E8F4D#:~:text=La%20miner%C3%ADa%2C%20como
📌 https://aargentinapciencias.org/grandes-temas-ambientales/mineria-y-ambiente-5/
📌 https://www.argentina.gob.ar/produccion/mineria/sustentabilidad-minera
📌 https://www.caem.com.ar/uncategorized/el-agua-y-la-industria-minera/
Hello, I want to ask about something I read on social networks, apparently comes from journalistic news.it is about the reserves of lithium in Jujuy province, that after ennumerate the large volumes of lithium that contains the reserve, the extraction and destination of the mineral in its raw state, is in the hands of a Chinese mining company and I think another American, from USA.and that by royalties of exploitation is something like 1.5% ...unfortunately I lost the news and the source ..But like the extraction of marine fauna by foreign factory ships in our sea , is depredated and very strategic elements are extracted for our development, the Argentinean , of course, Again, the question is whether this is true or fits a reality of right now .... Thank you very much
Thank you for writing to us, Alberto. In this post you will find answers to your question and many more:https://www.planpaisargentina.org/preguntas-litio/ We remain at your disposal.