PSJ Cobre Mendocino (San Jorge) — copper and gold
First Mendoza copper project in the RIGI: a political-regulatory milestone for a province where metal mining had historically been blocked (Ley 7722). Employment estimated by the press: +6,300 direct and indirect jobs.
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 San Jorge S.A. (CUIT 30-69228382-8), the project vehicle, controlled by Zonda Metals GmbH (Switzerland) and Grupo Alberdi (Argentina) prob ↗
The works, milestone by milestone
Work starts on updating the environmental and social baseline, across more than 160 measurement sites, in the pre-construction stage.
The Ministry of Economy approves the accession through Resolución 801/2026, with eligible assets of USD 613,430,234 and a commitment of 27 % local supplier purchasing.
Minera San Jorge files its application to join the RIGI.
The owner announces the feasibility-update teams: some 300 specialists from six Mendoza companies, and a pledge that «at least 90% of contracts» go to companies from the province.
The owner and Distrocuyo sign the agreement for the engineering studies of the San Jorge 220/33 kV substation and the 220 kV line to the Mendoza Norte substation.
Ley 9684 is published in Mendoza's Official Gazette No. 32493, alongside Ley 9685, which approves another twenty-seven mining Environmental Impact Declarations.
The governor enacts the law through Decreto 2783: «Téngase por Ley de la Provincia la Sanción N° 9684».
Mendoza's Legislature passes Ley 9684, approving the Environmental Impact Declaration and making it binding. It is the first metalliferous project ratified by the Legislature since Ley 7722.
The Mining Directorate and the Environmental Management and Oversight Directorate issue the Environmental Impact Declaration through Joint Resolution 405/25 and 71/25: 162 articles of conditions.
The project's public hearing is held, with what the province itself describes as historic turnout.
Minera San Jorge files its Environmental Impact Report, prepared by GT Ingeniería, opening file EX-2025-00278264-GDEMZA-MINERIA.
What it leaves in Mendoza
jobs, works, taxes, promises and the outlook
How many jobs it creates
3,900 direct and indirect jobs in the construction stage ⚠️ COMBINED figure of direct and indirect jobs, with no published breakdown verif Feb 17, 2025 ↗
2,400 direct and indirect jobs during an operating phase estimated at 16 years ⚠️ COMBINED figure of direct and indirect jobs, with no published breakdown verif Feb 17, 2025 ↗
The place where it is built
Las Heras, Mendoza, before the RIGI: the official snapshot of November 2023, counting the people who live there.
46,697 jobs in November 2023, 38% of them in public administration verif Nov 2023 ↗
2,411 jobs: 199 in mining and 2,212 in construction verif Nov 2023 ↗
from 180 to 199 jobs verif Nov 2023 ↗
22 in 2022 verif 2022 ↗
5.3 times estim Nov 2023
0.1 times all registered jobs in the department and 1.6 times its miners and construction workers estim Nov 2023
The works that stay behind
The infrastructure that stays standing once the works end, with its size and its source.
San Jorge 220/33 kV substation and a 220 kV high-voltage line to the Mendoza Norte substation
PowerThe electricity system of Mendoza's high mountain area. According to both parties, the work improves the quality, stability and capacity of the supply in Uspallata — a long-standing demand of residents and the tourism sector — and does not only feed the mine. It stays on Distrocuyo's side, a regulated transmission company, not the project's.
Agreement signed on December 17, 2025 between the owner and Distrocuyo to start the basic engineering studies. Verbatim from the coverage: «El convenio contempla la construcción de la Estación Transformadora San Jorge (220/33 kV) y una Línea de Alta Tensión de 220 kV que la conectará con la Estación Mendoza Norte, integrándose al anillo eléctrico central de la provincia».
Network of hydro-meteorological stations with telemetry
OtherThe public monitoring system. The network feeds into the provincial telemetry data network and is paid for entirely by the company: article 6 of the Environmental Impact Declaration charges it with «la construcción y mantenimiento de la infraestructura de monitoreo (incluyendo pozos exploratorios, estaciones hidrometeorológicas y la instrumentación para el sistema de telemetría en tiempo real)». In an area with no dense weather coverage, that is new public data.
Verbatim from article 56 of the Environmental Impact Declaration: «La Empresa debe presentar ante la AAM para su evaluación y resolución un plan para instalar una red de al menos cuatro estaciones hidrometeorológicas, cuya ubicación responda a las variaciones microclimáticas del área de influencia directa e indirecta del proyecto. Dicha red debe estar integrada a la red de datos telemétricos».
Permanent community relations office in Uspallata
SocialThe residents of Uspallata and the local authorities: it is the physical door for direct contact and access to project information, and for that reason it is also the counter a local supplier with no contact inside the company can walk up to.
Verbatim from article 33 of the Environmental Impact Declaration: «La Empresa debe mantener una oficina de relaciones con la comunidad y autoridades locales en Uspallata durante las etapas de construcción, operación y cierre, para facilitar el contacto directo y el acceso a la información sobre el proyecto. En dicha oficina, La Empresa debe mantener un registro mensual actualizado de las novedades en la zona del Proyecto».
Access and signage works on National Route 149 and Provincial Route 52
RoadsTraffic on both roads. The works and the signage are approved by the 4th District of the National Roads Directorate and sit on public carriageway: anyone driving through uses them, not just the project's trucks.
Verbatim from articles 112 and 113 of the Environmental Impact Declaration: the proponent «deberá presentar ante el 4° Distrito – Mendoza (DNV), el Proyecto Ejecutivo del proyecto de acceso al emprendimiento, como también de todas las obras a realizar dentro de la zona de camino de la Ruta Nacional N° 149», and a vertical signage plan «sobre la calzada de la RNN° 149 y RPN° 52».
Lined tailings storage facility, waste rock dumps and open pit
OtherNo one, and saying so is part of an honest inventory: these are the liabilities left in the territory once the project ends. The Environmental Impact Declaration treats them as such — it requires safe technical and environmental closure, a specific closure plan filed with the Departamento General de Irrigación, and a post-closure monitoring programme «llevado a cabo por al menos 10 años, con monitoreo semestral obligatorio». It is the physical flip side of the infrastructure that does serve someone.
Article 72 of the Environmental Impact Declaration requires the tailings storage area to be lined with a design approved beforehand, and articles 147 and 156 require safe technical and environmental closure of the facility, the waste rock dumps, the pit and the water infrastructure. Article 157 sets post-closure monitoring at a minimum of ten years, twice yearly.
- 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-2025-123845536- -APN-SCEYM#MEC verif May 28, 2026 ↗
May 13, 2026 verif May 28, 2026 ↗
The act’s articles, in detail
4 facts on the commitment
27 % of the amount earmarked for suppliers that goes to LOCAL suppliers verif May 28, 2026 ↗
The entire investment amount earmarked for paying suppliers, goods and infrastructure works, during the Project's construction and operation stages verif May 28, 2026 ↗
1 September 2028 to complete the minimum investment amount. verif Sep 1, 2028 ↗
Minera San Jorge S.A. (MSJSA), tax ID 30-69228382-8, registered at 9 de Julio 1190, 3rd floor, Office 3, city of Mendoza. verif May 28, 2026 ↗
What we could not confirm
There are 4 in this project. Each says why it could not be confirmed and what it would take to close it.
H-01The direct/indirect breakdown of the 3,900 construction jobs and the 2,400 in operation+
Both figures on file are sums of direct plus indirect jobs, and the owner itself publishes them that way on its site. The trade press publishes a split of 800 direct and 1,600 indirect for the operating phase, without citing the source document.
H-02The dimensions of the permanent infrastructure: kilometres of high-voltage line, hectares of the tailings storage facility and flow rate of the water intake+
Neither the Environmental Impact Declaration nor the RIGI ruling publish them: the Declaration regulates conditions, it does not describe the works. The document «Aspectos Claves del Proyecto PSJ Cobre Mendocino», published by Mendoza's own government in December 2025, would carry them, but its file returns 403 from the province's cloud storage, with and without a browser identifier. This is an ACCESS gap.
H-03Who will build the mine: there is no construction contractor awarded, and it is right that there is none+
The project is in the pre-construction stage, which under the ruling starts in June 2027. All that is awarded today are the six feasibility-update teams, which are on file under `contratistas`. For the main construction contractor there is no tender document, no bidders and no award record: the tender will be the owner's private process.
H-04The size of the Socio-environmental and Environmental Compensation Fund+
Article 10 of the Environmental Impact Declaration creates the Fund, defines its purpose, its form — a trust or other legal vehicle, through a formal agreement between the Company, the Province and the Municipality of Las Heras — and its five-member Executive Committee, but sets NO rate and NO amount. That is left to the agreement.
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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