Exploration drilling and core-drilling services (San Juan)
Drilling is the mining service that already bills in San Juan: it doesn't wait for anyone's FID. The 2025-26 campaigns closed with records by project —Lunahuasi 27,318 m, El Pachón 21,246 m in 53 holes, Vicuña's binational program of 50,000 m—. And there is a paradox that is the opportunity: of the 35 machines that worked in the province only 12 are from San Juan, and some 15 local rigs are idle —not for lack of demand but of altitude certification—. Whoever brings those rigs up to Andean specification and registers as a local supplier enters a market that pays today and becomes perpetual when the copper open pits move to production blastholes from 2029-2030.
The TAM is drilling activity, not capturable spoils. The high-mountain anchor contracts —the deep holes of Vicuña, Lunahuasi and Altar, the directional drilling— are won by the globals with their own fleet and balance sheet, and McEwen already internalized 8 rigs: that is captive. Your real gap is shallow-to-medium drilling, the geotechnics of the early works, the water wells and the production blastholes, where extreme specification is not the barrier: the addressable segment.
This niche's driver is provincial: San Juan's Local Mining Development Law reserves part of mining procurement and employment for the local supplier and turns provincial qualification (RE.PRO.MIN) into an advantage for the local drilling firm. Each rule opens in the reforms panel on the home page, with its status and primary source.
enablesSan Juan: 80/60 local mining procurementRequires directing 60% of mining procurement and reaching 80% of employment with registered San Juan suppliers and workers —provided they offer competitive terms—: it makes the RE.PRO.MIN registry the local driller's key to enter the copper majors' quota, and pushes the global to partner with a local. Drilling is one of the sectors where the competitiveness clause is tested first.see the reform →This market does not float on its own: concrete megaprojects drive it. These are the ones moving demand for this niche — each with its investment and status.
The largest mining project in Argentine history and the first copper PEELP: it integrates Josemaría and Filo del Sol (copper/gold/silver) in the San…
see the project →Leach-based copper cathode project in Calingasta (San Juan). Company/press figures (probable, outside the resolution): resources of ~10,900 M lb Cu…
see the project →Phase 1 of the largest undeveloped copper deposit in Argentina alongside Vicuña: a resource declared by Glencore of ~6,000 Mt @ 0.43% Cu, 2.2 g/t Ag…
see the project →Who splits the market, where you get in, what pays and what could break it.
already in
split
Canada, based in Mendoza; 30 years in Argentina; clients McEwen and Challenger; the country's only directional drilling (Pachón 2024, +1,000 m). FY2026 record CAD 889.1 M globally, 688 rigs verif in primary source
France, based in Mendoza; a key supplier for Los Azules; named in the 35-machines article (DdC Jan-2025)
Global; contractor at Los Azules and rigs seen at Josemaría; McEwen bought 8 LF160 diamond rigs of its own (2022) — partial internalization that shrinks the contractable market
Chile; active in the province (DdC Jan-2025); a natural candidate for the Chilean side of Vicuña's binational tender
Argentina, based in San Juan since 2001; 10 rigs in the country; diamond/rotary/reverse-circulation; 70% local labor
Salta (Grupo AGV); surface/underground diamond drilling + geotechnics; +300 employees
Córdoba; production blastholes at Hualilán (24 months, with Orica, since Nov-2025); dominates the production segment — which will be the perpetual core from 2029-30
11 of the 35 machines active Jan-2025; ~15 idle local rigs (~200 jobs) — idle capacity without altitude certification
Don't fight for the deep high-mountain holes or the directional drilling —that belongs to the globals with fleet and balance sheet—. Enter from the side, where the barrier is not extreme specification:
Upgrade an idle local rig to altitude specification (deep HQ/NQ, wireline, acclimatized crews): it costs less than a new rig and there are ~15 idle San Juan rigs ready to reconvert. The upgrade plus Achilles qualification is the shortest path to billing.
Take the niches the globals don't prioritize: the early-works geotechnics (Northern Corridor, camps, platforms), the water wells and piezometry every road and camp requires, and the production blastholes (Thor's model at Hualilán is replicable). It is the door for the entrant with no high-mountain campaign on the CV.
Partner up: a JV with a global to qualify as a registered San Juan supplier (≥51% local capital or 24 months of billing) —the global's rational response to the Local Mining Development Law is precisely to seek the partner that opens the quota for it.
~50-60% of the TAM (USD 35-55 M): high-specification anchor contracts — Vicuña's binational campaign (deep-hole, heli-support, two-country management), Lunahuasi/Altar +1,000 m holes, directional — go to globals with fleet and balance sheet irreplicable in years; plus the internalization (8 rigs owned by McEwen at Los Azules)
USD 25-45 M/year addressable by a local/national entrant: shallow-to-medium infill, early-works geotechnics, water/monitoring wells, production blastholes, subcontracted meters the globals release at season peak. The 80/60 law + RE.PRO.MIN ENLARGES it (mandatory registry consultation + tax credit for meeting targets), with the "competitive market terms" valve as the limit: it grows only for whoever is competitive, not by decree
USD 3-8 M/year capturable in 2-3 years: 2-4 certified and utilized rigs (USD 1.5-2 M per active rig), via (a) upgrading an idle local driller, (b) a global-local JV to qualify in RE.PRO.MIN, or (c) a geotechnics+water specialization hung off the Northern Corridor road contractors
effect
Side B: each active rig employs 12-18 people on shifts [industry assumption] → the 35 machines sustain ~500-600 direct jobs; the ~15 idle rigs are ~200 named jobs (DdC). Scaling to 45-50 rigs = +150-250 jobs, almost all in Calingasta and Iglesia (34/35 machines): the trade is learned at your own doorstep. Driller/assistant = a well-paid entry door to mining (AOMA agreement, above the provincial average), learned in 6-18 months on-the-job and portable to any mining basin in the world — and the verified global scarcity makes it exportable. Training gap: there is no provincial drillers' school (an opportunity for CASEMI/government/operators). Linkage: repair workshops (Red Balderramo already based in SJ — Fundar), bits and additives (today via Mendoza/Buenos Aires dealers), rig transport, exploration catering (Caterwest was born there) and the geochemical laboratory San Juan doesn't have (all the samples from ~140,000 m travel to Mendoza). Symmetric risk: seasonal (6-9 months) and cyclical employment — it is cut first if the metal falls; the rotation to production blastholes (2029+) makes it perpetual (20+ years of open pits).
calculate it
Concentration High in the anchor contracts: the 4 globals (Major, Foraco, Boart, Griffith) capture ~50-60% of the core's billing estim no one publishes market share; our own allocation by known anchor contracts. The San Juan firms have 31% of the rigs (11/35) but a smaller fraction of the value (shallow meters, low rates). Partial internalization: 8 rigs owned by McEwen. Vicuña's binational tender (high-mountain diamond drilling, both countries at once) is designed for global heavyweights: it consolidates the concentration — or breaks it if a local qualifies in a joint venture.
The obvious name —“the mine”— is not a single door, and in exploration drilling it is NOT the EPCM: the operator and the junior contract the drilling directly (owner-procured). Four distinct doors, each with its own channel:
The RIGI operator (Glencore at Pachón, Lundin/BHP at Vicuña, McEwen at Los Azules) or the junior financed by a major (Teck at La Coipita, Aldebaran at Altar) contracts the drilling by campaign, directly —not via EPCM—. Major Drilling and Foraco bill this way today; they are among the best payers in the country.
Vicuña tenders the high-mountain drilling of Filo del Sol —a 50,000 m program on both sides of the border— through a formal process designed for global heavyweights. It is the door that consolidates the big players… or opens if a local qualifies in a joint venture.
Every road and camp of the Northern Corridor and Los Azules requires geotechnics and wells: the operator can tender it directly or the road builder can subcontract it (Zlato, the Northern Corridor awardee). It is the fastest path to a first invoice for the entrant without a high-altitude campaign.
The model is Thor S.A.'s contract with Golden Mining S.A. (Challenger Gold) at Hualilán (24 months for blastholes, with Orica on explosives, since Nov-2025): the operator contracts the blastholes directly and multi-year. It is the door that becomes perpetual when the big copper mines enter production (2029-2030+).
It's not “what breaks it”: it's the dashboard to enter at the right moment. In drilling, the meters programmed per season signal demand before the machines mobilize.
Exploration drilling is the first capex a project deploys —and the first to be cut if the metal falls—. The aggregate of programmed meters and active rigs that operators announce before each season (Oct-May) is the earliest signal of drilling demand, months before the machines mobilize.
Operators and juniors (Vicuña, NGEx/Lunahuasi, Aldebaran/Altar, Glencore/El Pachón) — programmed meters and active rigs per season, by event ↗For the macro tempo: the copper price (LME, daily) rules over the pace of exploration —it is the first spend cut if the metal falls—. A cycle gauge, not the real-time San Juan figure.
Exploration is the first capex to be cut: NGEx/Aldebaran/AbraSilver budgets are discretionary year to year. Impact in 6-12 months on 40-50% of the TAM (juniors); Vicuña/Pachón (majors with RIGI) resist longer
It doesn't kill the exploration core but pushes the geotechnical and water-well wave 2027-2029. The 2026-2030 construction window is the part of the TAM with an expiry date
When a project moves to construction its exploration meters FALL (Los Azules: 70,000 m in 2023-24 → minor infill today). Provincial exploration peak 2025-2028; afterward the niche ROTATES to geotechnics and blastholes — the driller who doesn't rotate is left with no market. Mitigant: a 2030+ pipeline (Lunahuasi, La Coipita, 9 IPEEM areas) replenishes meters
Josemaría's update admits a severe impact on the basin; Jáchal No Se Toca active; the periglacial environment (Glacier Law) can halt permits for high-altitude platforms. Permanent risk with unpredictable judicial spikes (the Guandacol cutoff halted access to Vicuña for 1 month in 2026)
Less likely than in camps (a service intensive in crews and local logistics, and the 80/60 law disincentivizes it), but Griffith (Chile) already operates on the Argentine side and the binational tender normalizes contracting from Chile
Effective season 6-9 months; a hard winter cuts 20-30% of the year's meters. Operational variance, not structural
The figure is built from the bottom up, with two live variables and a reference price, and cross-checked against a second method that gives the same result. Drilling has no public rate in San Juan: that's why we show the model, not a magic number.
The extended TAM adds two legs not calculated by exploration meter: the geotechnics and hydrogeology of the 2026-2030 construction wave (+USD 10-20 M/year, every road and camp requires them) and the production blastholes (Thor's contract at Hualilán —24 months, with Orica— is the model, +USD 8-20 M/year). This last one becomes the perpetual core when the copper open pits enter production from 2029-2030: 20+ years of blasting.
The number rests on a few variables. The formula shows how it moves when each one changes; and each variable carries its freshness seal — how often it is worth revisiting. estim
Every figure is checked against its source before we publish it. Here we show what backs it — and where the verified data ends and our estimate begins.
The anchor is the exploration capex each project deploys —a mine's first spend, and the one that already bills without waiting for the FID—: the announced programs add up to tens of thousands of meters (Vicuña 50,000 m, Lunahuasi 30,000 m, plus Los Azules, Altar and El Pachón). On those meters we estimate the market by drilling price. The total is our own estimate: the exploration core is around USD 60 M/year and grows when construction geotechnics and production blastholes join the curve.
5 sources · 1 official or agencies · 3 of high reliability · each data point links to its source.
Get on board the takeoff
This week’s updates: the map of exploration drilling and core-drilling services (San Juan) and the niches opening up, related courses and new provinces as they launch. Free.