Salta: 70/60 local mining sourcing

What changed

Mining companies operating in Salta “shall preferentially contract” works, goods, inputs and services from local suppliers listed in the Registry, in a share of no less than 70% of the total annual amount contracted with all their suppliers (section 17), and shall preferentially hire workers actually domiciled in the mining departments and then in the rest of the province, for no less than 60% of their entire payroll (section 18). It creates the Provincial Registry of Local Suppliers to Mining Companies (section 15). What gives that “preferentially” its teeth are two other sections: section 19 conditions access to the law’s core economic benefit — offsetting infrastructure works against royalties — on complying with and maintaining sections 17 and 18; and section 20 requires, for the authority to approve the Environmental and Social Impact Study of a first-category project, a progressive local-contracting schedule set between 40% and 70%. The benefit at stake is large: up to 50% of the royalty assessed per quarter, collectable in tax credit certificates that are endorsable and assignable to third parties (sections 9 to 13). verif · 2019 ↗

In force

In force since 2019 (unlike San Juan's analogous scheme, which as of May 2026 remains a bill). verif · 2019 ↗

Who it affects

Mining companies operating in Salta, and supplier SMEs that, to qualify for the quota, must register with the Provincial Registry of Local Suppliers to Mining Companies, which the law creates within the Salta Mining Secretariat, free of charge and public (section 15). Section 16 defines a local supplier with four requirements: (1) establishing and maintaining an actual or corporate AND tax domicile in the province of Salta; (2) at least 80% of its payroll actually domiciled in Salta, with specialised professionals and technicians registered with the corresponding provincial professional association; (3) if a legal entity, being incorporated in Salta and having 51% or more of its shareholding held by partners or shareholders with an actual or corporate domicile in the province; (4) if a joint venture, having at least one Salta-based partner with a minimum 30% interest. verif · Oct 22, 2019 ↗

The norm

Provincial Ley 8164 (Promoción Minera), passed in 2019 and published in the Boletín Oficial de Salta on Oct 22, 2019. Implemented by Decreto 534/20 prob the number of the implementing decree comes from secondary sources; what is open at the primary source is the law and its publication. verif · Oct 22, 2019 ↗

Our reading

The 70/60 local procurement rule turns settling in Salta into a hard entry barrier, though not where it seems: the 70% of section 17 says “preferably”, so it is a preference and not a quota. The teeth are in sections 19 and 20 — without meeting and maintaining local procurement and local employment there is no access to offsetting infrastructure works against royalties, and without certifying the progressive system the environmental impact study is not approved. For the SME that settles and registers, it is a regulatory moat. We read it as governor's policy — provincial protectionism in tension with the national opening —, not as part of the Milei program. thesis

Where it lands, province by province3

Salta The teeth of the 70% rule are not in article 17 but in 19 and 20: without meeting local content, a miner cannot offset up to 50% of its royalty with transferable certificates, nor get environmental approval for a first-category project without progressive local contracting from 40% to 70%. But Salta's RIGI adhesion is two articles that never mention it, and POSCO committed 21.02% against the federal 20% floor. mixed federal-provincial tension thesis

Catamarca Salta's Law 8164 requires 80% payroll and 51% ownership from Salta and rewards the compliant miner with up to 50% of the quarterly royalty as a transferable tax credit. Hombre Muerto is a shared salt flat with a 50/50 split since January 2026: the same supplier faces two incompatible definitions of «local», and on the Catamarca side the Re.P.E.M. is a secretariat resolution with no economic counterpart. adverse federal-provincial tension thesis

San Juan The San Juan supplier that wants to scale into the neighbouring mining belt runs into a definition of «local» that excludes it: Salta requires a Salta domicile, 80% of payroll domiciled in Salta and 51% of capital in Salta hands, or a Salta partner with 30% of the joint venture. San Juan reserves demand for it with its own 80/60 rule, but the same mechanism caps it next door: each province forces the corporate structure to be replicated. adverse federal-provincial tension thesis

Salta: 70/60 local mining procurement

What changed and who it applies to

Our reading

Where it lands, province by province3

The other rules on this subject21

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