El Pachón - copper, silver and molybdenum (Glencore)
Phase 1 of one of Argentina's two largest undeveloped copper deposits, alongside Vicuña: a resource declared by Glencore of ~6,000 Mt @ 0.43% Cu, 2.2 g/t Ag and 130 g/t Mo. Expected employment declared by Glencore for El Pachón and Agua Rica together: more than 10,000 direct in construction and more than 2,500 in operation; the company does not break it down by project. Tentative press timeline (probable, no primary source): construction from 2029, first production ~2034. Electricity demand to 2030: 300 MW in the scenario that Los Azules submitted with its objection and that Resolución ENRE 219/2026 transcribes (it is not a modelling by the regulator). 2025-26 exploration campaign: 21,246 m in 53 holes, a peak of more than 600 San Juan workers through contractors, USD 44.5 M in provincial purchases in 2025 (mining press, probable).
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 4 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
Glencore (100 %) verif Aug 18, 2025 ↗
The works, milestone by milestone
In its half-year results presentation the company states the project's status: the amendment to the glacier protection law was passed, the trade-off studies and the drilling campaign were completed, and the environmental permitting submission is targeted for the first half of 2027. In the half-year it capitalised USD 0.1 billion across MARA, El Pachón and NewRange combined verif. With the largest declared amount, it is the most delayed large copper project in the province thesis.
Ley provincial 2827-M on Local Mining Development comes into force, effective from its publication on 16 July 2026 verif. This project's community of influence would be the department of Calingasta, where the deposit lies prob. Since the project has no approved accession to the federal regime, it has no supplier commitment in a federal act either, and this law is the only local procurement benchmark that applies to it today thesis.
The 2025-2026 exploration campaign closes: 21,246 metres of drilling across 53 holes for geophysics, geotechnics, hydrogeology and magnetometry studies; 60 professionals in the geology team, half of them hired in San Juan for this campaign; more than 600 people at peak activity through contractors and suppliers; and three million hours worked without injuries or environmental incidents. The company reports that during 2025 it allocated USD 44.5 million to purchases and services from San Juan firms, with 31 % going to suppliers in Calingasta.
The two Calingasta bridges are inaugurated — 50 metres the one over the Los Patos river and 25 the one over the Colorado, about USD 15 million, with capacity for 75 tonnes per lane — and the new core shed at the Pampa del Indio camp is toured, built by the San Juan company Alade with an investment of more than USD 2.5 million and some 70 jobs. The bridge work had a peak of 120 direct workers, 90 % hired in Calingasta.
The company signs a framework agreement with the provincial ministries of Minería and of Infraestructura, Agua y Energía to tender four priority hydraulic works in the Calingasta irrigation system, covering 3,400 hectares of farmland in southern and central Barreal, with a contribution of around ARS 600 million on its part. The valley has 97 % of its irrigation network unlined.
The two road bridges over the Los Patos and Colorado rivers, in Calingasta, started in July 2024, are completed. They are inaugurated on 10 June 2026 with the governor, the company and the community.
Glencore files the accession application to the regime for Phase 1 of the project, together with the one for MARA in Catamarca. It declares a capital investment of USD 9,500 million, the midpoint of a range of 8,500 to 10,500 verif. As of 2 October 2026, when MARA's approval was announced, El Pachón was still unresolved: it is the only one of San Juan's large copper projects without a decision on accession prob.
What it leaves in San Juan
jobs, works, taxes, promises and the outlook
The place where it is built
Calingasta, San Juan, before the RIGI: the official snapshot of November 2023, counting the people who live there.
4,400 jobs in November 2023, 53% of them in public administration verif Nov 2023 ↗
915 jobs: 320 in mining and 595 in construction verif Nov 2023 ↗
from 229 to 320 jobs verif Nov 2023 ↗
5 in 2022 verif 2022 ↗
1.4 times estim Nov 2023
The works that stay behind
The infrastructure that stays standing once the works end, with its size and its source.
Two reinforced-concrete road bridges over the Los Patos and Colorado rivers, in Calingasta, replacing crossings that snow and floods used to cut off
Roadsmetres the one over the Los Patos river and 25 metres the one over the Colorado; eight metres wide for two-way traffic and capacity for 75 tonnes per lane; about USD 15 million
The department of Calingasta: they are for ordinary vehicle use and guarantee permanent connectivity to the area, not just passage for the project. The governor inaugurated them with the community present.
Verbatim: «dos puentes vehiculares sobre los ríos Los Patos y Colorado, en Calingasta, obras que demandaron una inversión cercana a los US$15 millones y que buscan garantizar la conectividad permanente hacia la zona donde se desarrolla el proyecto minero El Pachón» — two road bridges requiring an investment of close to USD 15 million and intended to guarantee permanent connectivity to the area; «fueron construidos en hormigón armado y reemplazan pasos que históricamente podían verse afectados por las condiciones climáticas de la alta cordillera» (built in reinforced concrete, replacing crossings historically affected by high-mountain weather); «cuentan con ocho metros de ancho para doble circulación y capacidad para soportar hasta 75 toneladas por mano». The work ran between July 2024 and January 2026, with a peak of 120 direct workers, 90 % hired in Calingasta. They were inaugurated on 10 June 2026.
Core shed at the Pampa del Indio camp: the store where the rock samples from every exploration campaign at the deposit are kept
Productivesquare metres and more than USD 2.5 million; it holds core from 1969 onwards
The project and whoever studies it: it is the physical archive of almost sixty years of drilling, and the input for the geological studies, the feasibility work and the environmental documentation. A San Juan company built it and it generated some 70 jobs.
Verbatim: the facility is «de 2.500 metros cuadrados, demandó una inversión superior a los US$2,5 millones y permitirá resguardar las muestras de roca obtenidas durante las campañas de exploración realizadas en El Pachón desde 1969. Este material constituye una fuente de información clave para los estudios geológicos, los análisis de factibilidad y la elaboración de documentación ambiental vinculada al proyecto minero» — 2,500 square metres, more than USD 2.5 million, holding the rock samples from El Pachón's exploration campaigns since 1969, a key source of information for the geological studies, the feasibility analysis and the environmental documentation. It is at the Pampa del Indio camp, some 30 kilometres from where the bridges were inaugurated.
Four priority hydraulic works in the Calingasta irrigation system — desanders, canals and gates — tendered under a framework agreement with the provincial ministries of Minería and of Infraestructura, Agua y Energía
Waterhectares of farmland in southern and central Barreal; around ARS 600 million in February 2026 pesos contributed by the company; 97 % of the valley's irrigation network is unlined
The irrigators and farmers of Calingasta, who carry structural problems in capturing and distributing water. It is public work on the valley's irrigation system, not infrastructure of the deposit.
Verbatim from the owner's release: «Glencore Pachón firmó un acuerdo marco junto a los Ministerios de Minería y de Infraestructura, Agua y Energía de San Juan para licitar 4 obras hidráulicas prioritarias dentro del sistema de riego de Calingasta. Esta oportunidad de desarrollo para el departamento sanjuanino abarca unas 3.400 hectáreas de superficie agrícola del sur y centro de Barreal» — a framework agreement with the two provincial ministries to tender four priority hydraulic works covering some 3,400 hectares of farmland; «La inversión de Glencore Pachón rondaría aproximadamente 600 millones de pesos»; and the diagnosis behind them, «El Valle de Calingasta cuenta con un 97% de su red sin impermeabilizar, lo que genera frecuentes obstrucciones por arrastre de materiales, especialmente durante las crecidas y lluvias».
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 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
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 it enters construction and when operation, and how many of the 10,000+ construction jobs belong to El Pachón+
There is no admission resolution published: the application was filed on 18-Aug-2025 and is still under review, so the act in which the Ministry transcribes the schedule does not exist. The dates in this file —construction from 2029, first production around 2034— come from the press, with no primary source opened. The expected employment —more than 10,000 construction jobs and more than 2,500 in operation— is declared by Glencore for El Pachón and Agua Rica together, without breaking it down by project.
H-02How much work, and in which categories, the annual exploration campaign contracts, beyond the total in dollars+
The total is published — USD 44.5 million in purchases and services from San Juan firms during 2025, with 31 % in Calingasta — and so is the headcount, more than 600 people at peak, but not the breakdown by category or the list of contractors, which is what would tell a supplier whether its service is already covered.
H-03How much the project bought in San Juan during 2025: two figures from the same issuer that do not add up+
In its release of 15 December 2025 the company declares USD 34.4 million in purchases from San Juan firms with 57 % in Calingasta; in the release of 8 July 2026, on the same year 2025, it declares USD 44.5 million with 31 % in Calingasta. The total can rise because the first is a partial cut of the year, but the amount going to Calingasta falls in absolute terms — from around 19.6 to around 13.8 million — and that cannot happen within the same period. Either one of the two bases is different, or one of the two percentages is wrong.
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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