ARGENTINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Sebastián P. Vedoya, Sergio Arbeleche and Dolores Cattaneo, Bruchou & Funes de Rioja
The Federal Mining Secretary is the competent enforcement authority of the Mining Investments Law, which includes a promotional investment regime for mining, to which all of the Argentine provinces have adhered. The Federal Economy Minister is in charge of applying RIGI (Incentive Regime for Large Investments). 1.5 Nature of Mineral Rights Minerals are divided into three different catego - ries, based on their importance and value and how they appear in nature. For minerals qualify - ing under the first and second categories, the underground mining rights and properties con - stitute a separate and different right from the surface land property. Accordingly, the mining right- or concession-holder may not be the same person as the one owning the surface land. Type of Minerals Each category has different rules for the acquisi - tion of mining rights. • First-category minerals (precious metals and stones and valuable minerals, such as potas - sium, gold and silver) are granted to private concessionaires for exploration or exploita - tion under the “first in time, first in right prin - ciple”, and can be exploited by private parties only under a legal concession granted by the competent authority. • Second-category minerals (metals not includ - ed in the first category and other minerals) are subdivided into two different subcategories: the first one is granted through direct conces - sion to third parties, but the surface-owner has a preference to acquire; the second sub - category is a general concession granted to the public in general and of common use.
• Third-category minerals (mainly minerals used for construction – quarries) in principle are not subject to concession but rather owned by the surface land-owner. Mines Mines of the first and second category of miner - als are considered, by the FMC, to be real estate separate from the surface property above them. Minerals of both categories constitute under - ground property, subject to mining legal conces - sion. They are granted to private third parties through a direct legal concession. Minerals are granted through public bid only as an exception (for example when the concession is owned by a provincial, state-owned company through a reserved area). Third-category minerals constitute the same property as the surface land and in principle are not subject to concession, but rather are directly owned by the owner of the surface land. Owners The owner of a mining concession owns all the minerals included in the first and second cat - egories. State-owned companies holding mining rights must in principle grant them to private third par - ties for exploitation. In these cases, a bidding process is usually carried out in order to enter into an agreement between the private third par - ty and the state-owned company. This agree - ment shall contain the terms and conditions for the private party to conduct specific activities (ie, exploration/exploitation activities), among other things. 1.6 Granting of Mineral Rights Private persons can obtain the exclusive right to explore and exploit minerals via permits and
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