Fénix — Phase 1B Expansion: lithium carbonate (Minera del Altiplano / Rio Tinto)
Expansion (Phase 1B) of the historic Fénix lithium-carbonate project in the Salar del Hombre Muerto, operated by Rio Tinto via Minera del Altiplano. It adds 9,500 t/year of capacity (to 38,000 t/year). Phase 1B already reached first production in Q2 2026, ahead of plan, and is still commissioning; the resolution sets that 60% of the amount earmarked for paying suppliers, goods and works goes to local suppliers (the act says exactly 60%, not «more than 60%»). The schedule the company announced —start toward Jul-2026 and works through Nov-2026— was overtaken by that early start.
The projectwhat it is, the route, the owners, the works and the contractors
Who owns it
Minera del Altiplano S.A. Dedicated Branch (MDASD, CUIT 30-71906845-2); operated by Rio Tinto (formerly Arcadium/Livent) verif Apr 6, 2026 ↗
The works, milestone by milestone
Fase 1B achieves first production in the second quarter of 2026, ahead of plan, and remains in commissioning.
Contreras S.A. publishes the project sheet for the EPC of the Olacapato compressor plant with execution period «En ejecución»: it is the first Fase 1B work with an identified contractor.
Resolución 431/2026 of the Ministry of Economy approves the project's RIGI adhesion for the Expansión Fase 1B, as the expansion of a pre-existing non-adhered project, for USD 251,321,494 in computable assets.
Rio Tinto closes the purchase of Arcadium Lithium and becomes the owner of Fénix and Sal de Vida.
Who already has a contract
It is the only contractor that an act of the State ties to the RIGI scope: Resolución 431/2026 lists the Olacapato gas compressor plant within the scope of the Expansión Fase 1B, and the contractor's project sheet declares the same work with client «Río Tinto Lithium / Minera del Altiplano S.A.» and execution period «En ejecución». The page publishes neither amount nor term.
The contractor's project sheet declares the full scope, the client —«Arcadium Lithium», today Rio Tinto—, the 4,000 masl and the status «Ejecutado». It publishes neither amount nor dates, so the size of the contract is not public.
How to supply itwhere to register, what they ask for and what they will buy
How to become a supplier
Minera del Altiplano S.A. Sucursal Dedicada (MDASD), tax ID 30-71906845-2. It is a branch dedicated to the RIGI, not the whole company: the historic Fénix operation invoices through Minera del Altiplano S.A. and the expansion that adhered does so through the branch. For a supplier that means there are two different counterparties on the same salt flat, and that not every Fénix purchase order is a purchase of the RIGI project.
The big purchasing is decided by Rio Tinto, not by the local operator: since March 2025 the owner has been a major with a corporate procurement policy. The only contract within the RIGI scope with an identified contractor is an EPC —the Olacapato compressor plant— and in an EPC the SME's door is one rung lower, in the subcontract of the winner, not at the operator.
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.
What 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.
The commitment governing this project's purchasing is not the provincial one but the one in the RIGI file: Resolución 431/2026 records that 60% of the amount earmarked for paying suppliers, goods and works goes to local suppliers, against a legal floor of 20%. ⚠️ Under the RIGI «local» means Argentine, not from Catamarca: the strictly provincial quota is given only by the Re.P.E.M. verif Apr 6, 2026 ↗60% of the investment amount earmarked for the payment of suppliers, goods and infrastructure works, during the construction and operation stages, against the regime's 20% minimum.
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
For work within the RIGI scope, go to the subcontract: the EPC of the Olacapato compressor plant belongs to Contreras S.A., and that —not the miner— is where assembly, piping, welding, testing and site services are bought. the contractor's project sheet declares the work under execution as of 7-Apr-2026
What it will buy, and when
Phase 1B has already reached first production and the plant is heading for 38,000 t/yr: what is left for a supplier is not construction but replacement and maintenance —process spares, plant services, integrity control—, which is a smaller, permanent and proximity-based market.
The deadline to certify the minimum investment is Dec 1, 2026 and the works declare November 2026: the buying window for the expansion is closing, so a construction proposal arrives late and an operations one arrives on time.
Each phase buys different things at different times. The links lead to the matching market or trade.
Construction of the Phase 1B Expansion
under wayVerbatim from the act: «estimating a total construction time from the month of July 2024 to the month of November 2026». It covers the SA 1B selective adsorption plant, the PC 1B carbonate plant, brine wells, tanks and piping, plus a natural gas compressor plant in Olacapato (Salta). The USD 92,662,282 investment is executed entirely in the first year, with a Dec 1, 2026 deadline.
Operation
under wayStart of operation declared in the act for July 2026: it begins while the works are still closing out in November.
What it will need and has no supplier for yet
Civil works, carbonate plant assembly and pipeline/compressor station (Hombre Muerto / Olacapato)
highPhase 1B adds processing capacity and a compressor station in Olacapato (Salta): demand for electromechanical assembly and high-altitude works on an already existing operation.
Input logistics (lime, soda ash) and carbonate transport from Hombre Muerto to ports
mediumAdding 9,500 t/year increases the inbound flow of reagents and the outbound flow of product along the NOA corridor.
We cross what you manufacture or do against the 2 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 infrastructure that stays standing once the works end: 138 km across line and road, with its size and its source.
Olacapato natural gas compressor plant, in the Los Andes department of Salta
PowerThe gas transport system of the Puna. The compression is added so that the lithium expansion has gas, but it stays installed on a pipeline that does not belong to the project, in another province.
Resolución 431/2026 lists it within the scope of the Expansión Fase 1B, and the Contreras S.A. project sheet declares it «En ejecución» as of 7-Apr-2026, with client Río Tinto Lithium / Minera del Altiplano S.A.
The Fenix gas pipeline, which brought natural gas to the Salar del Hombre Muerto for the first time
Powerfrom Salar de Pocitos (Salta) to the salt flat, completed in 2015; the provincial dossier attributes to it a 6-inch diameter and some US$22 million of private investment, 2013–2014 figures that no current source reconfirms
The Catamarca high plateau and the corridor linking Pocitos with the Salar del Hombre Muerto: it is the only gas route in the area, and the expansion of the other projects on the salt flat hangs from it — POSCO formally asked the Salta Senate for a gas connection.
The 135 km pipeline from Pocitos was completed in 2015 to supply gas to the Fenix facilities. The Phase 1B expansion rests on that same route: the Olacapato compressor station that Resolution 431/2026 includes in its scope exists to expand the transport capacity of the La Puna and Fenix pipelines.
Los Patos river aqueduct, the freshwater work that is the object of the basin's court case
Waterpumping wells and an aqueduct of at least 32 km to the plant, according to the 2018 environmental file reconstructed in the provincial dossier. What this pass does date is the STATUS: as of February 2025 it was under construction and not yet operating.
No one yet, and that is the knot: this is fresh water from the sub-basin that recharges the salt flat, and the Catamarca Court of Justice went as far as barring new permits on the Los Patos river until a cumulative impact study was done. The work ends up installed on the very resource the community of Antofagasta de la Sierra is claiming.
The independent audit of the operation records that «the Los Patos aqueduct itself was not operative at the time of the audit and as such was excluded from the scope of this audit», and that «to meet future freshwater demands, the company is constructing an aqueduct to supplement water reserves from the Los Patos Aquifer». The environmental file that authorizes it has a name and a date: «Environmental Impact Assessment for the Groundwater Utilization and Conveyance to the Fenix Plant – Los Patos Aqueduct», September 2018. The surveillance audit, due between 12 and 18 months after the report was published, brings it expressly into its scope.
Airstrip at the Fenix camp
Connectivitylong
The high plateau of Antofagasta de la Sierra: a 3 km airstrip at over 4,000 metres is evacuation and access infrastructure for the whole area, not only for the mine.
The camp at the Fenix mine operates with an airstrip 3 km long.
- 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 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
EX-2025-96020964- -APN-SCEYM#MEC verif Apr 6, 2026 ↗
Mar 25, 2026 verif Apr 6, 2026 ↗
The act’s articles, in detail
4 facts on the commitment
60 % of the amount earmarked for suppliers that goes to LOCAL suppliers verif Apr 6, 2026 ↗
The entire investment amount earmarked for paying suppliers, goods and infrastructure works, during the project's construction and operation stages verif Apr 6, 2026 ↗
1 December 2026 to complete the minimum investment amount. verif Dec 1, 2026 ↗
Minera del Altiplano S.A. Sucursal Dedicada (MDASD), tax ID 30-71906845-2, registered at Intendente Lascano 2100, San Fernando del Valle de Catamarca. verif Apr 6, 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 admission resolution publishes the figure: the seventeen that are published state that the company «provided the estimate of direct and indirect employment of the Project with local integration» and do not transcribe it. The official RIGI portal publishes a single figure that adds direct and indirect jobs together and does not separate the two stages, and mixing them is exactly the error the `empleo` field exists to prevent.
H-02Who is executing the civil works of the Expansión Fase 1B+
The only contractor tied to the RIGI scope is Contreras S.A., through the Olacapato compressor plant. Milicic S.A. declares the civil works of phases 1 and 2 of the plant expansion as executed, but its project sheet nowhere names the 1B: those are the phases of its own contract, not the project's 1A and 1B. And Resolución 431/2026 states that the company «discriminó los montos destinados a la cancelación de las obligaciones asumidas en contrataciones de servicios esenciales con identificación del proveedor», referring to a file that the Boletín Oficial notice does not transcribe.
H-03Whether the Los Patos river aqueduct falls within the scope of Phase 1B, and when the work finishes+
Several press reports describing Resolution 431/2026 say the scope includes the aqueduct from the Los Patos river and the permits to drill the wells, and put completion of the work in November 2026. Our own reading of the Official Gazette notice does NOT list the aqueduct: it records the 9,500 t/year expansion, the amount in eligible assets and the Olacapato compressor station, and sets 1 December 2026 as the deadline. On what has been read, it cannot be stated that the aqueduct is inside.
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