The norm, in detail
Salta and Catamarca split 50/50 what is extracted from the disputed strip, without settling the border
Law 5,940 (Catamarca)
in forcePROVINCIAL
RIGI and investment
What changed and who it applies to
What changed
Catamarca approved by law the Agreement for the Facilitation and Promotion of the "DIABLILLOS - SILVER" Mining Project it had signed with Salta on 27 March 2025. Article 1 reads: "The Agreement for the Facilitation and Promotion of the 'DIABLILLOS - SILVER' Mining Project is hereby approved in all its parts"; article 2 is procedural. It is the transactional route with which the two provinces began operating the projects that fall on the territorial strip they have disputed for eight decades, without waiting for Congress to settle the border. verif · May 22, 2026 ↗
In force
In force since its publication (22-05-2026), with a built-in expiry date: clause NINE of the Agreement states verbatim that “once the border dispute is settled by an Act of the National Congress, this agreement shall cease to have effect. The Province that ultimately holds title to the territorial rights shall continue as the sole competent authority, and the other shall refrain from pursuing any claim, whether de facto or legal.” In other words: the 50/50 split is a PROVISIONAL regime whose end is not decided by the provinces but by the National Congress — and when it comes, nothing gets split: one of the two takes everything. verif · May 22, 2026 ↗
Who it affects
The operators of the projects that fall on the disputed strip of the Salar del Hombre Muerto and, by extension, every supplier that invoices there. The mechanics, read in the annex protocol by protocol:(1) Royalties — “mining royalties determined under Mining Investment Act No. 24,196, as amended and supplemented, shall be distributed in equal parts between the jurisdictions, fifty percent to each of them”; the party liable for payment files the sworn returns in both. Wells located outside the scope of application pay royalties only in the province where the well sits.(2) Turnover tax / TAX ON economic activities — distributed under the Multilateral Agreement: revenue attributable to, and expenses borne within, the scope of application are attributed in equal parts to each province for the unified coefficient of section 2 of the Agreement. And the point that hits the supplier directly: “other taxpayers” carrying out activities in the area MUST REGISTER UNDER THE MULTILATERAL AGREEMENT IN JURISDICTIONS 903-CATAMARCA AND 917-SALTA.(3) Withholding and collection — the appointed agent remits to each jurisdiction fifty percent of the invoiced amount as the taxable base, but only if both the party withheld from and the agent are registered in both jurisdictions; verbatim: “the fifty percent (50%) distribution indicated above shall not apply where the party is not registered in both jurisdictions, in which case it must declare, withhold and remit under the rules in force in each jurisdiction.”(4) Stamp tax — the full amount of the instrument is attributed in equal parts between the jurisdictions.(5) Governance — the DIABLILLOS agreement creates an Interprovincial Management Committee with a bipartite seat, under which sit three subcommittees: procedural coordination, review of Environmental Impact Reports, and control. Its recommendations are non-binding and each province issues its own environmental approval.(6) The agreements are provisional rules: they are signed “without implying any recognition or waiver of territorial rights.” verif · Mar 27, 2025 ↗
The norm
Ley 5.940 of the Province of Catamarca, passed on May 14, 2026 and published in the provincial Boletín Oficial on May 22, 2026. It ratifies an agreement signed on Mar 27, 2025. Salta had approved its side between December 2025 and January 2026: the fourteen-month gap between the signature and Catamarca's ratification is the timing fact of this file. verif · May 22, 2026 ↗
Our reading
It is the right move so that investment does not wait for politics: instead of stalling two projects until Congress closes an eight-decade dispute, the two provinces agreed to split in halves and carry on. For the investor the net effect is favourable and concrete — there are written rules where there used to be a void. But the split creates an operating problem that still has no owner: it doubles the auditor without creating the method. Two tax authorities with two criteria over the same extracted volume, with no common measurement standard written into the published text, is exactly the gap that opens the biprovincial tax measurement and audit niche. And the agreement carries its own switch: it is born declaring itself provisional and dies the day Congress rules. That does not weaken it as an opportunity — it concentrates it in time. thesis
Where it lands, province by province2
Catamarca It unlocks operations at the projects on the disputed strip without requiring the border to be settled first: investment moves ahead with written, shared fiscal rules instead of being held hostage to an eight-decade dispute. favorable thesis
Catamarca The 50/50 split raises the compliance cost for the operator and the supplier: two tax administrations verify the same tonne without a published common measurement standard. It is an administrative burden for the mine, and demand for whoever can produce a number both will accept. mixed thesis
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Ignacio Aredez· Chief analyst
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How to read the seals → verif primary source · prob primary source pending · unconf not sufficiently backed · estim our own calculation · thesis our reading