Mining 2025

ARGENTINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Sebastián P. Vedoya, Sergio Arbeleche and Dolores Cattaneo, Bruchou & Funes de Rioja

registered with the Mining Authority. Claim of a discovery for this discovery registration is the initial step for acquiring and owning a mining concession, which has multiple stages and requirements. Nevertheless, the mining conces - sionaire has legal title to conduct exploitation activities from the registration of the discovery claim (this is without prejudice to the additional environmental permits required to conduct such activities). Irrespective of the legal title to conduct exploi - tation activities, these activities can only be legally deployed and conducted after obtaining the environmental approval for the exploitation stage. Steps for obtaining a mining concession The sequence of actions to be taken in order to obtain a mining concession may be summarised as follows: • filing of a discovery claim (where the date and time of the claim are registered and a sequen - tial number is assigned to the submission; there is no need for a pre-existing exploration permit to be in place); • a Graphic Register certification that the area is available; • registration of the discovery claim/granting of the mining concession; • publication of the registration; • performance of statutory works (Labour Legal), claim of pertenencias and survey of the land by the interested party; and • granting of mining units (one or more perte- nencias – see below) to the applicant (equiva - lent to a property title). Written applications (discovery claims) must be filed with the Mining Authority in order to obtain the mining concessions, and give the applicant

priority over third parties claiming mining rights in the same area, if the applications concerned do not overlap with other mining rights previ - ously granted or applied for. The discoverer must submit a sample of the mineral discovered, together with the discov - ery claim. The discoverer must also indicate by Gauss Kruger co-ordinates an area not larger than twice the maximum size of the mining con - cession, within which the discoverer will perform the exploration works to confirm the discovery. The area must be regular, except as affected by pre-existing claims or surface obstacles, and will remain unavailable to third parties until legal sur - vey approval takes place. Pertenencias First and second-category mineral mines are granted in the form of a concession to private individuals or companies in units called pert- enencias (one pertenencia is the minimum non- dividable exploitation area). Under the FMC, the mining concession vests the concessionaire with a property title over the mine (including the right to explore and exploit in the concession area). After confirmation from the Graphic Regis - ter Department that the area described in the application is not subject to previously submit - ted applications or registered mining rights, the Authority registers the discovery claim. The registration of the discovery claim is pub - lished, and opposition by third parties may be filed against it. From the registration of the discovery claim, the mining concessionaire has 100 days in order to complete certain statutory works, under penalty of forfeiture of the registered mine.

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