The 5 provinces, compared
All 5 with their RIGI pipeline, what each one charges in turnover tax and royalties, and which local-content regime applies to suppliers. 22 projects and 74 mapped markets. Each row opens the full province.
All 5, row by row
⚠ Two of these columns are not a single scale. Royalties mix the mining and the hydrocarbon regime, and local content mixes floors, price preferences and declared targets. Each cell says which one it means; the detail is below the table.
All five on a single metric, so they can be compared without scrolling. The full table —with royalties and local-content rules— is below. Royalties are deliberately left out: Neuquén’s are hydrocarbon and San Juan’s are mining, and ranking them together would assert a comparison between two different things.
| Province | RIGI pipeline | Turnover tax | Royalties | Local content: what each province requires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neuquén Core of Vaca Muerta · Neuquén Basin · 70% of the country's crude | USD 51,265 M 6 projects | 3.5% services 3%extraction | 12% + bonuses OIL & GAS ROYALTIES | 60 % enforceable preference · procurement what it is calculated on, and what limits itof the total amount contracted in each category, in the calendar year (art. 15) · Only in the categories where there are certified Neuquén suppliers in a position to bid. It is not a quota: the certified supplier gets in if its bid is up to 9 % (tier A) or 6 % (tier B) more expensive, and it must then MATCH the best price; if it does not match, it is discarded (art. 14). |
| San Juan Argentina's copper hub · national leader in mining RIGI projects · gold floor today, copper bet toward 2030 | USD 22,828 M 5 projects | 3% services 0.75%extraction | 3% FOB MINING ROYALTIES | 60 % stated target · procurement 80 %employment what it is calculated on, and what limits itof the total annual amount of the project's purchases and contracts, direct and indirect through contractors (art. 9) · employment: of the average annual payroll, both the miner's direct employees and those indirectly employed by its contractors (art. 5) · It is not a quota but the TARGET of a plan the mining company files as a sworn statement. And only a supplier holding a valid RE.PRO.MIN certificate counts, and as of 2026-08-29 the registry is not issuing any: until it opens, the 60 % cannot count anyone. |
| Salta The mining province that does not depend on mining · 2.81% of gross provincial product and 61.4% of what it exports (cumulative Jan-Apr 2026) · gold rules, not lithium | USD 6,716 M 4 projects | 3.60% services 0.75%extraction | 3% MINING ROYALTIES | 70 % soft preference · procurement 60 %employment what it is calculated on, and what limits itof the total annual amount contracted with all of its suppliers (art. 17) · employment: of its entire payroll, with actual residence in the mining departments and then in the rest of the province (art. 18) · The article says they «shall preferentially contract» and refers to the implementing regulation: it is a soft mandate, not a self-executing quota. What gives it teeth are arts. 19-20, which tie the promotional benefit to complying with it. Only suppliers registered in the Provincial Registry count. |
| Río Negro Vaca Muerta's outlet to the sea · export corridor · San Matías Gulf | USD 6,611 M 3 projects | 3% services 3%extraction | 12% +3% on extensions OIL & GAS ROYALTIES | 60 % hard quota · procurement 80 %employment what it is calculated on, and what limits itof the contracting of goods, services and works, direct and indirect (art. 6) · employment: of the workforce, with 2 years of documented residence in the province · An obligation of result: the 60 % has to be PERFORMED by registered Río Negro suppliers, and it also reaches contractors and subcontractors. The local supplier additionally has the right to match the best bid if it does not exceed it by more than 8 % (art. 7). The 80 % workforce figure is set by the local-employment law, not by this one. |
| Catamarca The wedge of Argentine lithium · 96% of what it exports is mining · 95.34% local content committed in one RIGI filing | USD 5,177 M 4 projects | 3.00% to 4.80% services 0.75%extraction | 3% MINING ROYALTIES | 70 % soft quota · procurement what it is calculated on, and what limits itof the «total number of annual contracts» for works, services, goods and supplies (art. 4) · It is the only instrument that reserves a PROVINCIAL quota —the supplier must be domiciled in Catamarca, unlike the RIGI, where «local» means Argentine— but it lives in a RESOLUTION that another resolution can repeal, not in a law. And its own text says «number» of contracts, which read literally is a count of contracts and not an amount: the resolution does not settle it. |
⚠ Royalties do not belong in a single column: 3% is mining and 12% is hydrocarbons, and they are different regimes. That is why each cell states which resource it refers to and the table is not sorted by it.
⚠ Local content is not a comparable percentage either: some provinces set a hard floor on contracting, others a price preference, and in others the rule is a resolution rather than a law. The cell names the instrument and opens the rule that sets it, instead of lining up figures that measure different things.
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