Agua Rica / MARA — copper, gold, silver and molybdenum (Glencore)
Catamarca's largest copper project and the biggest pool of stalled capital in the province. MARA integrates the Agua Rica deposit (Andalgalá) with the plant, the concentrate pipeline and the infrastructure already built at Bajo de la Alumbrera, which stopped mining in 2018: reusing an existing plant is the project's best economics and, at the same time, its most contested environmental argument (the plan is to use Alumbrera's depleted pit as a tailings facility). Proven and probable reserves declared as of 30-Jun-2019 (100% basis): 1,105 Mt at 0.49% copper, 0.03% molybdenum, 0.21 g/t gold and 2.8 g/t silver; the 2025 RIGI release cites approximately 1,200 Mt at 0.47% copper, 0.20 g/t gold, 3.40 g/t silver and 0.03% molybdenum (measured and indicated, a different basis: do not add them up). Estimated mine life 27-28 years. Glencore declared more than 10,000 construction jobs and more than 2,500 operating jobs, but COMBINED with El Pachón: do not attribute them to Catamarca. While the big project waits, the restart of Alumbrera's remaining phases is moving ahead with a first equipment and maintenance contract of ~USD 250 M and a water concession cut back from 1,200 to 800 liters per second.
The projectwhat it is, the route, the owners, the works and the contractors
Who owns it
Minera Agua Rica LLC, Argentine Branch; 100% controlled by Glencore International AG since 31-Jul-2023 (previously Yamana Gold 56.25% / Glencore 25% / Newmont 18.75%). Pan American Silver retains a 0.75% NSR royalty on copper for the life of the mine. prob Aug 18, 2025 ↗
The works, milestone by milestone
Verbatim from Glencore's first-half results presentation: «Agua Rica feasibility engineering underway. Environmental permitting submission expected to be filed in the coming weeks. RIGI approval expected shortly thereafter». It is the only declared date for the environmental permit, and it comes without a day.
Glencore sets the restart of mining at Bajo de la Alumbrera —the old mine whose plant MARA will reuse— for 2 June 2026, with first production expected in the second half of 2027.
Glencore announces that it filed the RIGI adhesion applications for El Pachón and Agua Rica. Agua Rica enters at USD 4,000 M, the midpoint of a declared range of USD 3,500 to 4,500 M. The release says «has submitted applications»: it is a filing, not an approval.
Who already has a contract
The project has been filed under the RIGI and has not been approved yet. Construction awards come later.
How to supply itwhere to register, what they ask for and what they will buy
How to become a supplier
Minera Agua Rica LLC, Sucursal Argentina, 100% controlled by Glencore International AG. ⚠️ There is NO dedicated RIGI branch yet, because the project is not approved: when there is one, the invoicing tax ID will be different. And there is a second corporate name in play that no source settles: the trade press speaks of «MARA (Minera Agua Rica – Alumbrera)» as a merger of Minera Agua Rica LLC Sucursal Argentina with Minera Alumbrera Ltd., while Glencore itself treats them as a separate operation and project that share infrastructure.
Glencore, and the purchasing decision is not in the province: the group's own suppliers page tells you to contact the asset you want to work with. For a Catamarca supplier that means today's door is not Agua Rica —which is not buying construction yet— but Bajo de la Alumbrera, the operation that is spending.
The registration routes that exist today, with their status. The one that is up and running is not always the official one.
Re.P.E.M. — Catamarca's registry of suppliers to mining companies
up and running todayIt is the only door that reserves a quota for a Catamarca supplier, and it is not a law: it was created by Resolución S.E.M. 498/2014, whose article 4 requires mining companies to ensure that «la cantidad total de contrataciones anuales de obras, servicios, compra de bienes y/o insumos a proveedores inscriptos en el Re.P.E.M. no deberá ser inferior al setenta por ciento (70%) del total de contrataciones con proveedores». Sub-statutory rank: it can be changed by another resolution of the same secretariat.
Glencore — direct contact with the asset
up and running todayThere is no supplier portal and no published tenders. Verbatim: «Si usted tiene intención de convertirse en nuestro proveedor, por favor contacte con el departamento de activos industriales o de productos de Glencore con el que desee colaborar». The page requires the Supplier Code of Conduct and, for minerals and metals, due diligence under the five-step framework of Annex I of the OECD Guidance. There is also an anonymous reporting channel.
Go to the single windowabrirWhat they ask you for
Actual and registered domicile in Catamarca of no less than two years' standing, with the principal place of business inside the province. This is the requirement that puts a two-year clock on any SME from another province. verif Jun 23, 2014 ↗The eight requirements of article 5 of Resolución S.E.M. 498/2014, plus the annual renewal in article 9. The cost of entry is administrative, not technical: the resolution asks for no certification and no minimum capital.
In a company, 50% of the legal entities, partners or shareholders must have their actual or registered domicile in Catamarca; and a UTE «deberá estar compuesta mínimamente en un cincuenta por ciento (50%) por proveedores locales». That is the door the rule leaves open to get in without relocating: partner with a local firm. verif Jun 23, 2014 ↗The eight requirements of article 5 of Resolución S.E.M. 498/2014, plus the annual renewal in article 9. The cost of entry is administrative, not technical: the resolution asks for no certification and no minimum capital.
70% of professional, technical and administrative employees must be natives or residents of Catamarca with no less than two years' standing. verif Jun 23, 2014 ↗The eight requirements of article 5 of Resolución S.E.M. 498/2014, plus the annual renewal in article 9. The cost of entry is administrative, not technical: the resolution asks for no certification and no minimum capital.
Municipal licence, registration as a taxpayer with the provincial revenue agency, registered constitutional instruments, the sworn statement of Annex I, and a half-yearly update of the data. Annex I also requires proof of membership in the relevant chamber of suppliers: chamber membership is a requirement of the registry. verif Jun 23, 2014 ↗The eight requirements of article 5 of Resolución S.E.M. 498/2014, plus the annual renewal in article 9. The cost of entry is administrative, not technical: the resolution asks for no certification and no minimum capital.
«Los simples intermediarios» — plain intermediaries — are expressly excluded. verif Jun 23, 2014 ↗The eight requirements of article 5 of Resolución S.E.M. 498/2014, plus the annual renewal in article 9. The cost of entry is administrative, not technical: the resolution asks for no certification and no minimum capital.
Glencore's Supplier Code of Conduct, due diligence questionnaires proportional to the supplier's risk, and, for minerals and metals, the five-step framework of Annex I of the OECD Guidance. This is corporate vetting, not a provincial registry: it applies even when the purchase is local. verif 2026 ↗«Una serie de requisitos y expectativas se encuentran definidos en el Código de Conducta del Proveedor» and «Se desarrolla debida diligencia según el marco de cinco pasos definido en el Apéndice I de las Directrices de la OCDE».
The order you get in by
Establish actual and registered domicile in Catamarca, or form the UTE with a local partner that already has the two years' standing. This is the step that sets the calendar for all the others. two years of domicile standing, or immediate if you enter through a UTE with a local firm
Obtain the municipal licence and register as a taxpayer with the provincial revenue agency. not published
Join the relevant chamber of suppliers: proof of that membership goes inside the Annex I form. not published
File the Annex I sworn statement with the Dirección Provincial de Promoción Social Minera, together with the registered constitutional instruments and the payroll evidencing the 70% of Catamarca employees. not published
Keep it alive: half-yearly data updates and annual renewal before 30 March (article 9). half-yearly and annual
Contact the asset, not the group: Glencore's suppliers page does not take registrations and refers you to the department of the asset you want to work with. Today the asset buying in Catamarca is Bajo de la Alumbrera, not Agua Rica. not published
Use the clock in your favour: the provincial registry demands two years of domicile, and this project has not yet filed its exploitation environmental permit. Whoever settles now will be eligible when the project builds. two years of domicile standing
What it will buy, and when
What has this capital stalled is neither the cost of money nor geology: it is the environmental exploitation permit, which has not been filed, plus the court front and the social licence in Andalgalá. Until that barrier is removed, no improvement in financing brings the buying date forward, and that is why a supplier who wants to get ready watches the permit process and not the copper price.
The project does not start from scratch: it integrates the plant, the slurry pipeline and the infrastructure already built at Bajo de la Alumbrera, which stopped extracting in 2018. If it starts, it buys less earthmoving and more overhaul of an idle asset: pipeline integrity, grinding replacement, electrical work on what is already there.
Each phase buys different things at different times. The links lead to the matching market or trade.
Feasibility engineering and exploitation environmental permit
under wayThis is the phase that pays today, and it does not buy construction: it buys engineering, environmental and water studies, and fieldwork. Verbatim from the issuer: «Agua Rica feasibility engineering underway. Environmental permitting submission expected to be filed in the coming weeks».
No catalogued supplier yet: environmental and social consultancy able to run monthly external audits · hydrogeological modelling and water balance for an open-pit mine · slope geotechnics with real-time monitoring, radar and prisms · independent tailings dam engineering and audit
They are not buying any of this today. Open the phase to see the detail and arrive qualified the day it goes to tender.
Constructionno date: there is no published RIGI adhesion resolution to fix it, and the exploitation environmental permit has not been filednot started10 ítems+
The largest package in the project is mining contracting and mine equipment, not the plant: the project reuses the plant, the slurry pipeline and the infrastructure of Bajo de la Alumbrera. Having no date is the datum, not an omission: a supplier who wants to get ready watches the permit process, and the provincial registry asks for two years of domicile.
No catalogued supplier yet: large-scale mining contracting with an owned fleet · overhaul and integrity of a slurry pipeline idle since 2018 · tailings dam reinforcement and audit
Operationno date of its own: the only thing published is a trade-press mention of 2031, which is neither an act nor a statement by the issuernot started7 ítems+
Estimated mine life of 27 to 28 years. The operation reuses the Alumbrera concentrator, so its purchasing is not that of a new mine: it is industrial maintenance, spare parts and services on an existing asset.
What it will need and has no supplier for yet
Mining contracting at scale and mine equipment
highIn the prefeasibility study's capital structure, the mine contractor is 21.6% of initial capex and mine equipment 10.1% (together, 40.1% with the rest of the mine line item, against barely 5.1% for plant and processing): it is the project's largest package and today it has no local bidder of the right size in the province. The timing play is local roots: the provincial registry requires a registered address two years old, so whoever settles in 2026 will be eligible exactly when the project builds.
Pit dewatering, mine water management and hydrogeological monitoring
highYear 1 of restarting Alumbrera's remaining phases is not mining: it is refurbishment, with pit dewatering and quarterly piezometric and hydrochemical monitoring imposed by the environmental resolution itself, over a concession cut from 1,200 to 800 liters per second. Demand written by the regulator, with an immediate 12-to-24-month window.
Pit geotechnics: slope stabilization and real-time monitoring
mediumThe resolution requires slope stabilization with real-time control technology. That is instrumentation and telemetry, not just civil works: radar and prisms, ground support and controlled blasting. No visible local supply.
Tailings dam reinforcement and audit
mediumReinforcing the tailings dam is an express condition of the resolution, and the existing dam only covers Agua Rica's first years of ore. High technical barrier (geotechnical engineering plus piezometric instrumentation) and no local supply in the province.
Maintenance ring around the heavy-fleet mother contract
highThe big contract is already awarded (new equipment and maintenance of 51 units for five years, ~USD 250 M, with the brand dealer). What that contract does NOT cover is the SME entry point: off-the-road tires, cutting tools, hoses and hydraulics, lubrication, industrial washing, field service and a component repair shop.
Environmental and social services written by the regulator itself
highThe resolution mandates MONTHLY external environmental audits, participatory monitoring with communities, hydrogeological modeling, water balance, water and carbon footprint, waste and effluent certificates, gender-perspective programs and internships. Each obligation is a recurring professional-services contract, not a one-off expense.
We cross what you manufacture or do against the 3 phases of this project and tell you which ones you fit into and when each one buys. Two pages, with the evidence behind them.
Analyze my companyWhat it leaves in Catamarcajobs, works, taxes, promises and the outlook
The works that stay behind
The project has been filed under the RIGI and has not been approved yet. Permanent works are documented once construction starts.
What it already pays in taxes and royalties
The project has been filed under the RIGI and has not been approved yet. Royalties and production taxes begin with operation.
Who promised what
We have not surveyed the public promises about this project. A dated, verifiable commitment with its source closes them.
What could stall itrisks and how to track them
- What could stall it — We have not documented this project’s risks. An identifiable vector with its source closes them.
- How to tell whether it is advancing — We have not defined this project’s indicators: what observable fact marks its progress still has to be identified.
How we verified thisthe act, the gaps and the sources
The RIGI act, in detail
The project has been filed under the RIGI and has not been approved yet. The instrument is published in the Boletín Oficial once the Committee approves the accession.
What we could not confirm
There are 3 in this project. Each says why it could not be confirmed and what it would take to close it.
H-01When construction starts and when operation begins+
The schedule of a RIGI project is read in the recitals of its admission resolution, and this project has no resolution published in the Official Gazette yet: it has been filed or announced, not approved. What circulates in the press are tentative company dates, with no act fixing them.
H-02Which contractors Agua Rica has awarded+
None. Everything awarded and published in the province by Glencore belongs to the Bajo de la Alumbrera restart —the heavy fleet of more than USD 250 M with the brand's dealer, and three rotary drill rigs— not to the construction of Agua Rica, which has not started. Two independent investigations of this project reached the same conclusion separately, and that is what makes it a finding: when two searches that did not read each other declare the same gap, the absence is a fact and not a search failure.
H-03The provincial environmental file of the project, which is the clock everyone is watching+
The executive summary of the expansion of Declaración de Impacto Ambiental 418 and the 2025 public-participation disposition are published on the Government of Catamarca portal, and today they could not be opened: the entire catamarca.gob.ar domain sits behind an automated anti-robot control that yields neither to a page reader nor to a browser. The gap is one of access, not of existence: we know the documents are there.
- 10+ years in data science for clients across Europe and the Americas
- Certified in AI governance (ISO/IEC 42001)
- Machine Learning (Google Cloud)
- Registered expert with the European Commission