Cauchari-Olaroz Expansion — lithium carbonate (Exar)
First expansion of an operating lithium project to enter the RIGI as a standalone project (dedicated-branch structure): it validates the expansion route over existing assets without contaminating the incentives of the parent project. Employment estimated by the Mining Secretariat (outside the resolution's operative text): 1,787 jobs across construction and operation.
How to supply it
what we have for a supplier, and how to request it
What we have on this project for a supplier
Who decides the purchase, who you invoice and where a new supplier registers.
Which lines each phase buys and when the window opens for each one.
Which they are, why it will need them and who could provide them.
Who they are, what each one does and how to sell to them.
All of this is surveyed and verified against its source. Crossed with what you sell —which of them your products suit, how to reach it and when— it is in your company report. Request the report
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.
Where my company can get inThe project
what it is, the route, the owners, the works and the contractors
Who owns it
Minera Exar Dedicated Branch — EXARSD (CUIT 30-71924298-3; Minera Exar = Ganfeng Lithium / Lithium Argentina JV) verif Jun 5, 2026 ↗
The works, milestone by milestone
The owner reports that the updated development plan for the expansion is expected around the end of the third quarter of 2026, and that the environmental impact assessment has been filed but not approved.
The Ministry of Economy approves the accession through Resolución 825/2026: an additional 45,000 t/year of lithium carbonate, with eligible assets of USD 1,166,677,726. It is the first project in Jujuy to obtain approval.
Accession date to the RIGI for the «Ampliación Caucharí Olaroz» project, set by article 2 of the ruling.
The fifth instalment of the Grupo Minero Los Boros agreement, USD 200,000, is paid after being suspended since August 2022.
Jujuy issues Decreto Acuerdo 290-DEyP/2024, requiring mining producers to contract at least 70 % of their annual spend with registered local suppliers and to have 70 % of their payroll domiciled in the province.
The existing operation starts producing lithium carbonate.
The five-year contract for servicing the evaporation ponds begins, with a consortium 49 % owned by Magna Construcciones.
Jujuy's Official Gazette publishes the notice of Resolución 161-SCA/2019: Minera Exar makes available to the public the environmental impact study for the electricity supply to its plant, of 28 MW, with a 33 kV overhead medium-voltage line.
Minera Exar signs the option agreement with Grupo Minero Los Boros S.A. transferring mining properties that make up part of Cauchari-Olaroz.
What it leaves in Jujuy
jobs, works, taxes, promises and the outlook
How many jobs it creates
1,787 jobs across construction and operation, according to the Mining Secretariat's estimate. ⚠️ a COMBINED figure for construction AND operation, and for direct plus indirect on top of that: it is not a construction jobs number unconf Jun 5, 2026
The works that stay behind
The infrastructure that stays standing once the works end, with its size and its source.
Double-circuit 33 kV overhead line, from the Cauchari solar park to the mine's substation
Powermetres of double-circuit 33 kV overhead line along Provincial Route 70 B, plus a 33/13.2 kV substation, the 13.2 kV networks to the ponds and wells, and underground runs to the plant, the camp and the emergency thermal station
The Puna of Susques. The line connects the operation to the Cauchari solar park — Argentina's largest, owned by the province — rather than to generation of its own: it is linking infrastructure between two assets that stay, and its route follows a provincial road.
Works described in the notice of the project's electrical environmental impact study, published in Jujuy's Official Gazette on August 21, 2019: 56,283 metres of double-circuit 33 kV overhead line, from the substation of the Cauchari photovoltaic park to the plant's substation, along the service strip of Provincial Route 70 B, for a 28 MW supply.
Battery-grade lithium carbonate plant and its evaporation pond field
ProductiveIt is the project's own asset rather than a work for third parties, but it belongs in the inventory for what it drags along: a pond field of that size needs permanent servicing — the contract worth USD 4.8 million a quarter today — and it is the steadiest demand a brine operation leaves behind.
The existing plant has a nameplate capacity of 40,000 t/year and has been in production since 2023. The expansion approved by Resolución 825/2026 adds 45,000 t/year, taking it to 85,000.
- What it already pays in taxes and royalties — We have not broken down this project’s local fiscal contribution: the primary source that sets each item still has to be opened, and an act of the State is not published on press backing.
- 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 it
risks 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 this
the act, the gaps and the sources
The RIGI act, in detail
EX-2025-140126020- -APN-SCEYM#MEC verif Jun 5, 2026 ↗
May 9, 2026 verif Jun 5, 2026 ↗
The act’s articles, in detail
4 facts on the commitment
20 % of the amount earmarked for suppliers that goes to LOCAL suppliers verif Jun 5, 2026 ↗
The entire investment amount earmarked for paying suppliers, goods and infrastructure works, during the Single Project's construction and operation stages verif Jun 5, 2026 ↗
1 July 2030 to complete the minimum investment amount. verif Jul 1, 2030 ↗
Minera Exar Sucursal Dedicada (EXARSD), tax ID 30-71924298-3, registered at calle Palma R. Carrillo N° 54, ground floor 7, Doctor Manuel Belgrano department, San Salvador de Jujuy. verif Jun 5, 2026 ↗
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-01How many people the construction employs and how many stay working in operation+
No RIGI accession ruling publishes the number: they say the company «proporcionó la estimación del empleo directo e indirecto del Proyecto con integración local» and do not transcribe it. The only figure in circulation — 1,787 jobs — adds construction to operation AND direct to indirect, and comes from the Mining Secretariat's portal, outside the ruling's text. It is on file with its defect declared and a `sin_confirmar` seal, not split.
H-02How many suppliers are on the provincial register, which is what measures real competition+
Decreto Acuerdo 290-DEyP/2024 requires at least 70 % of the annual amount to be contracted with registered suppliers, but the register does not publish its roll: the suppliers subdomain returns only its title and the listing routes error out. The roll that is published is the one for PRODUCERS — 30 filings, 12 approved as of September 6, 2026 — that is, the miners, not the suppliers. Without that number you cannot measure the gap between what the rule demands and what registered supply can cover.
H-03Who will build the expansion+
There is no award for engineering, erection, wells or the direct extraction technology. The federal ruling approves a supplier plan at 20 % and a list of goods to import, with no names. And the owner itself reported that the updated development plan is expected around the end of the third quarter of 2026 and that the environmental impact assessment has been filed but not approved. The contractors on file are from the operation already running, not from the expansion.
We look at what your company does and tell you whether we see a sign that it fits this market, with the evidence behind it. If we do not see one, we say so too and name the condition that would change it. One page as a dated PDF, within 48 working hours.
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