What the projects in Catamarca are going to buy

Holder of the Hombre Muerto Oeste (HMW) project in the western sector of the Salar del Hombre Muerto. Argentine vehicle: GALAN LITIO S.A. (tax ID 30-71736364-3); the RIGI vehicle is its Dedicated Branch (tax ID 30-71899846-4). Its RIGI accession (17-Jul-2025, approved by Resolution 1271/2025 of the Ministry of Economy, official gazette 28-Aug-2025) computes USD 217,090,266 and commits 95.34% of the investment amount to paying suppliers: it is the highest local-content percentage among the four approved projects that disclose it (17 of the 21 approved ones do not), against a legal minimum of 20%. Deadline for the minimum investment: 31-Dec-2029. For a Catamarca supplier registered with the Re.P.E.M., it is the gateway with the largest contractual local-purchase obligation among the RIGI projects that disclose it. With small print that matters: under the RIGI "local suppliers" means Argentine, not from Catamarca — the commitment reserves no quota for the province. And the resolution estimates that percentage over the investment amount: it is a projected commitment in the filing, not an obligation enforceable line by line. It remains the highest percentage among those that disclose it, but a Catamarca supplier competes inside it against the entire country.

Operator of the Fénix project, the oldest in Argentine lithium (producing since 1997) and today owned by Rio Tinto, which closed the purchase of Arcadium Lithium in March 2025. Local vehicle: Minera del Altiplano S.A.; the RIGI vehicle is Minera del Altiplano S.A. Sucursal Dedicada (MDASD, tax ID 30-71906845-2). The accession of the Phase 1B Expansion (approved by Resolution 431/2026 of the Ministry of Economy, issued 31-Mar-2026, official gazette 6-Apr-2026) computes USD 251,321,494, expands capacity from 28,500 to 38,000 t/yr of lithium carbonate and commits 60% of the investment to paying local suppliers, three times the regime minimum. Construction declared from July 2024 to November 2026, with operations estimated to start in July 2026 and a minimum-investment deadline of 1-Dec-2026. In the same salt flat the company also operates Sal de Vida, using pond technology: two different technological schools under the same owner. With small print that matters: under the RIGI "local suppliers" means Argentine, not from Catamarca — the commitment reserves no quota for the province. And the resolution estimates that percentage over the investment amount: it is a projected commitment in the filing, not an obligation enforceable line by line. The 60% triples the 20% legal minimum —the highest among those that disclose it is Hombre Muerto Oeste's 95.34%, in the same salt flat— and a Catamarca supplier competes inside it against the entire country.

More than 60 kg per month of gold and silver equivalent, and on the order of 8 tonnes per year of rhodochrosite. The plant in the provincial capital is the country's only gold and silver refinery prob the company's own institutional communication.

THERE IS NO PUBLIC RESERVE FIGURE. All that is communicated is a mine-life extension of at least 13 years from the district's exploration campaigns; there are no contained ounces, no ore grade, no measured/indicated/inferred classification and no published proven and probable reserves.

The provincial state's miner, and a rarity on the Argentine map: a public company that produces, runs a surplus and distributes profits. It was created by national Law 14,771 on the Farallón Negro Act (1958) as an INTERSTATE company between the Province of Catamarca, the National University of Tucumán and the National State; it operates Farallón Negro / Alto de la Blenda —an underground mine producing since 1978— on a 344 km² concession in the Hualfín district, and operates in the provincial capital the country's only gold and silver refinery prob the company's own institutional communication. On 2 January 2026, Decree 2/2026 approved the Amending Agreement to the Act and ordered the National State's stake to cease: YMAD was left 60% Catamarca and 40% UNT, with a board of one chair and two directors for the province and two directors for the university. The same decree established that in its dealings with third parties YMAD is governed by PRIVATE LAW and that its purchasing is done by public tender, private tender, private price competition or direct contracting, under principles of publicity and competition — the article a supplier should read in full, because it is the formal gateway to the only miner that buys from within the province itself. FOR THE READER OF THIS OBSERVATORY, TWO THINGS THAT ARE NEVER SAID TOGETHER. The first: YMAD is also a 20% partner in the Alumbrera joint venture, so it is the vehicle through which the province takes part in copper as well as gold. The second, and this is the uncomfortable one: it is the worst-documented mining asset in Catamarca. It is not listed, does not report under NI 43-101 or JORC and does not publish open financial statements, so there are no public reserves, contained ounces or AISC. Everything operational —the more than 60 kg/month of gold and silver equivalent, the more than 600 jobs, the 13 years of mine life— travels through the press and not through an audited document. It is exactly the reverse of the copper and lithium in the same province, which publish reserves and costs; and it is why this observatory seals the institutional framework of the gold as verified and its production magnitudes only as probable.

100% owner of El Pachón, whose Phase 1 went to the RIGI on Aug 18, 2025 for USD 9,500 M (range 8,500-10,500), still NOT approved as of Jul 2026 - approval is THE event to watch in the San Juan portfolio. It also submitted MARA/Agua Rica (Catamarca, USD 4,000 M). 2025-26 exploration campaign at El Pachón: 21,246 m across 53 holes, peak of 600 workers, USD 44.5 M in provincial purchases and services in 2025 and 2 bridges worth USD 15 M prob mining press. Tentative press timeline: construction 2029, production ~2034.