Neuquén proposes mining royalties of 2-3% and a rewrite of its 1975 mining code

TWO structural changes for Neuquén mining. (A) Royalties: the bill the governor signed on 03-02-2026 sets in its art. 6 a scale on the mine-mouth value of all extracted minerals: 3% when the products are processed outside the province and 2% when they undergo intermediate or final processing inside Neuquén (an explicit incentive to local value added). It covers 1st- and 2nd-category minerals of the Código de Minería de la Nación and 3rd-category ones on fiscal-domain land (art. 1); the mine-mouth value is determined by art. 22 bis of Ley nacional 24.196 (art. 6). It exempts micro-enterprises (art. 5) and extraction for scientific research or for public works (art. 4). It creates the Mining Development and Environmental Sustainability Fund (FODEMSA, arts. 9 to 11, an account at Banco Provincia del Neuquén) and the Mining Oversight Fee, measured in «Oversight Units» worth twice the fee in the annual Tax Law (art. 12), with a quarterly sworn statement (art. 7). The text does not name lithium, copper or potassium: it uses the national classification by categories, within which they fall without being listed. (B) Mining procedure code: the second bill of the package, with 288 articles plus annexes, would replace Ley 902 of 1975, with digital case files, environmental provisions raised to the rank of law, the scattered rules ordered in a single body, tighter inactivity deadlines for claims and a regime for 3rd-category (construction) minerals with 10-year extendable concessions that pay a mining fee prob prob; in September 2026 the committee chair, Damián Canuto, presented an alternative version worked out with the Executive that brings it down to 201 articles, and on 10/14/2026 he proposed taking it to a special committee with the government and the judiciary that could run for a year prob. verif · Mar 2, 2026 ↗

Not in force. Bills submitted by the Executive at the opening of the March 2026 sessions and in committee, without a report. As of 10/14/2026 the Mining Procedure Code had still not been taken up: the committee chair proposed moving it to a special committee with the government and the judiciary that could run for a year, and the Environment minister had said the intention was to enact it this year together with the royalties regime prob. unconf · May 15, 2026

Any natural or legal person, public or private, national or foreign, that exploits, industrializes or markets minerals granted by the provincial State (art. 5), with joint liability among co-holders. Micro-enterprises as defined in art. 55 of Ley 25.300 are exempt. In concrete terms, it would reach Neuquén's future lithium, copper, gold and potassium projects thesis. For suppliers, the sworn statement, the oversight and the fund open demand for mining, environmental and oversight services, and the 2% versus 3% gap rewards whoever installs processing inside the province thesis. verif · May 15, 2026 ↗