Gualcamayo — Deep Carbonates (DCP): gold and silver (Minas Argentinas)
Reactivation and deepening of the Gualcamayo gold and silver mine (San Juan): the 'Deep Carbonates (DCP)' project extends the mine life toward the sulfide orebody at depth. Company/press figures (probable, outside the resolution): ~4,500 projected direct and indirect jobs; the operator is preparing a 'second RIGI' (~USD 1,500 M) to move from a mine to a mining district.
How to supply it
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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.
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Where my company can get inThe project
what it is, the route, the owners, the works and the contractors
Who owns it
Minas Argentinas SA Dedicated Branch RIGI I-Nuevo Gualcamayo (CUIT 30-71915462-6) verif; controlling group Eris Resource Company / AISA prob verif Jan 15, 2026 ↗
The works, milestone by milestone
An infrastructure works plan of more than USD 15 million and a nine-month schedule begins, to prepare the site for the future development of Carbonatos Profundos: expansion of the mineral processing facilities and the reagent stores, earthworks, geomembrane laying and camp expansion. The main civil works were awarded by tender to the San Juan company Mapal-Sigma. It adds some 230 jobs, on top of a headcount of 327 direct employees and 437 contractor workers at the close of July, bringing the mine close to 1,000 people involved.
Ley provincial 2827-M on Local Mining Development comes into force: from now on, only contracts with suppliers registered and holding a valid certificate in the Provincial Registry of Mining Suppliers count towards the miner's local procurement target verif. This mine's community of influence would be the Jáchal department, where the deposit lies prob, and that is the level at which the law requires 24 months of prior establishment to qualify verif.
The controlling group announces in Madrid, before the president, that it is considering filing a second application to the regime for USD 1,500 million — the G50 Programme — to turn the mine into a district: unlocking the potential of the concession's 38,000 hectares, with a short tranche of 24 to 36 months to assess remaining resources and a long one for new sectors, including those with potential for industrial metals. The deposit declares 7.1 million ounces of gold in resources and 4.9 million in certified reserves.
Resolución 6/2026 of the Ministerio de Economía is published, approving accession. It declares USD 519,647,635 of total countable investment, with USD 46.7 million in the first year and USD 43.9 million in the second, a deadline of 31 December 2028, and a local procurement commitment of 69 % on the amount allocated to suppliers verif. It is the tenth project approved in the regime prob.
Accession date to the regime: 27 November 2025. A dedicated branch accedes, Minas Argentinas S.A. Sucursal Dedicada RIGI I-Nuevo Gualcamayo, domiciled in the city of San Juan. The approved object covers three things: exploring the Gualcamayo 1 and 2 concessions, assessing the feasibility of the Carbonatos Profundos gold and silver deposit, and building, commissioning and operating the treatment plant.
What it leaves in San Juan
jobs, works, taxes, promises and the outlook
How many jobs it creates
230 new jobs for the nine months of the infrastructure works that the company announced would start in August 2026, on top of a workforce of 327 direct workers and 437 contractor workers this is employment for the preliminary site preparation works (expansion of the mineral processing plant and the reagent warehouses, earthworks, geomembranes and camp expansion), not for the construction of the Carbonatos Profundos plant, whose workforce is not published in the sources reviewed prob Aug 14, 2026 ↗
The place where it is built
Jáchal, San Juan, before the RIGI: the official snapshot of November 2023, counting the people who live there.
6,810 jobs in November 2023, 60% of them in public administration verif Nov 2023 ↗
1,148 jobs: 548 in mining and 600 in construction verif Nov 2023 ↗
from 526 to 548 jobs verif Nov 2023 ↗
3 in 2022 verif 2022 ↗
2.9 times estim Nov 2023
The works that stay behind
The infrastructure that stays standing once the works end, with its size and its source.
New camp sector at the mine, with accommodation modules for four people and private bathroom, plus the relocation of the sports facilities
SocialThe mine itself and its contractors: it is the accommodation capacity that supports the jump in headcount from some 760 people to close to 1,000, and it stays in place for the construction stage of Carbonatos Profundos.
Verbatim: «la construcción de un nuevo sector de campamento compuesto por más de 38 módulos habitacionales, cada uno con capacidad para cuatro personas y baño privado» — a new camp sector of more than 38 accommodation modules, each for four people with a private bathroom. The programme also includes «el traslado de las instalaciones deportivas y un refuerzo temporal de los servicios de transporte y alimentación».
Expansion of the mineral processing facilities and the reagent stores, with earthworks and geomembrane laying
ProductiveThe mine's operation: it is the expanded plant on which the future Carbonatos Profundos project is mounted, which is why the company calls it site preparation.
Verbatim: the works «contemplan la ampliación de las instalaciones de beneficio de minerales y de los almacenes de reactivos, movimientos de suelo, despliegue de geomembranas y ampliación de los campamentos», with an estimated duration of nine months and an investment of more than USD 15 million. The general manager frames them as «un avance concreto en los planes de inversión anunciados bajo el RIGI» that allows «anticipar la preparación de nuevas áreas e infraestructura necesarias para el futuro desarrollo del proyecto Carbonatos Profundos».
Mining access road from Ruta Nacional 40 to the camp, along the Gualcamayo river valley
RoadsThe Gualcamayo river valley, in the Jáchal department: it is the only access to the camp and it already exists, so what the project adds is maintenance and capacity, not a new alignment.
Verbatim from the accession resolution: «el acceso principal al campamento se inicia en la Ruta Nacional 40 por el camino minero que conduce al Valle del río Gualcamayo, distante quince kilómetros (15 km) aproximadamente» — the main access to the camp starts at Ruta Nacional 40 along the mining road to the Gualcamayo river valley, about fifteen kilometres away. The same resolution places the project «en la región de Gualcamayo, a doscientos setenta kilómetros (270 km) al norte de la capital provincial».
Photovoltaic park on the deposit's land, with the upgrading of the power line and the Huaco transformer station and a link to the national interconnected system
Powerin the first stage and 800 MW as the target over a decade; the projected link is 500 kV
First the mine and then the country: the company states that with the upgrade and the link it could sell its output anywhere on the system. The Huaco transformer station is provincial infrastructure, not the deposit's.
Verbatim from the operator's own site: «En una primera etapa se instalarán paneles solares para producir 50 MW. A lo largo de la siguiente década, la construcción crecerá de manera escalonada hasta alcanzar los 800 MW. Repotenciando la línea eléctrica y la Estación Transformadora Huaco —y construyendo o participando en un enlace en 500 kV que complete la vinculación con el Sistema Interconectado Nacional— podremos vender la producción a cualquier parte del país» — a first 50 MW stage growing in steps to 800 MW over the decade, with the power line and the Huaco transformer station upgraded and a 500 kV link that would allow selling output anywhere in the country.
- 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-2025-61508153- -APN-SCEYM#MEC verif Jan 15, 2026 ↗
Nov 27, 2025 verif Jan 15, 2026 ↗
The act’s articles, in detail
4 facts on the commitment
69 % of the amount earmarked for suppliers that goes to LOCAL suppliers verif Jan 15, 2026 ↗
The entire investment amount earmarked for paying suppliers, goods and infrastructure works, during the construction and operation stages verif Jan 15, 2026 ↗
31 December 2028 to complete the minimum investment amount. verif Dec 31, 2028 ↗
Minas Argentinas S.A. Sucursal Dedicada RIGI I-Nuevo Gualcamayo (MASA-SD), tax ID 30-71915462-6, registered at Av. Ignacio de la Roza Oeste 2613, Capital department, San Juan. verif Jan 15, 2026 ↗
What we could not confirm
There are 5 in this project. Each says why it could not be confirmed and what it would take to close it.
H-01The workforce for the construction of the Carbonatos Profundos plant and for its operation+
What is published, and loaded here, is the previous step: 230 jobs for nine months of infrastructure works. For the big stage —the construction of the plant— there is no figure in an accessible source, and Resolución 6/2026 does not publish employment.
H-02The amount of the civil works contract and who competed for it+
The operator reported that there was a tender and who won it, but published neither the awarded amount nor the list of bidders. It is a company's private tender, so there is no gazette where it has to appear.
H-03Which service each of the twelve companies the operator listed actually provides+
The source publishes the names as a block and the categories as a block — hospitality, transport, security, drilling, health and construction — without crossing them. Assigning a category to each name by resemblance would be inventing it. The only one with a category from its own source is Caterwest, through an earlier article already recorded in the repository.
H-04How the community contribution percentage is set within the 1 % to 5 % band+
The source publishes the names as a block and the categories as a block — hospitality, transport, security, drilling, health and construction — without crossing them. Assigning a category to each name by resemblance would be inventing it. The only one with a documented category is Caterwest, and what supports it is an earlier article about its catering capacity, not this list.
H-05How many hectares the project has: 7,128 or 38,000+
Two corporate sources give figures that do not match. The consultancy doing the engineering publishes a project area of 7,128 hectares; the controlling group speaks of 38,000 hectares of concession when announcing the second filing. They may be two different things — the disturbed area versus the total concession — but neither of them says so, and without that the larger number cannot be published as the project's area.
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