Glencore CEO Gary Nagle said that Argentina is the next frontier for copper production growth, “no question”, as cited by Mining Weekly.
Copper brownfield projects with low capital requirements are the predominant assets within the company’s portfolio as it outlines a growth trajectory to double its annual production to 2 million tonnes of copper a year.
Glencore’s investment in copper is focused particularly on two Argentinian projects – Mara, located in Catamarca province, and El Pachon in the San Juan province.
“We’re calling out approximately $400-million [investment] between 2024 and 2026 particularly on Mara and El Pachon,” Nagle said.
“Argentina looks like a very exciting jurisdiction to invest in. Our El Pachon greenfield project there is just enormous.”
The company is also focused on other minerals necessary for the world’s decarbonisation efforts such as high-quality coal used in steelmaking, as well as ferrochrome, vanadium, zinc, nickel, lead, cobalt and manganese.
“These are key inputs into decarbonisation, key inputs into industrialisation. We’ve become a one-stop shop in supplying all the needs of our customers with respect to these commodities,” Nagle added.
Theodor Lisovoy, Managing Editor, Rough&Polished
