Milei Weakens Argentina Glacier Law for Mining
Get the Energy newsletter
Daily energy & climate — solar, EVs, oil, the policy fights and tech bets shaping the transition. Free.
- Argentina's Congress approved revisions to the 2010 Ley de Glaciares by 137–111 in the Chamber of Deputies (after a 40–31 Senate vote), giving provincial authorities discretion to designate which glaciers warrant protection based on a "relevant water function" standard.
- Javier Milei celebrated the change as ending "ideological distortions and artificial obstacles that impede progress," framing it as central to his push to position Argentina as a leading exporter of critical minerals.
- Barrick Mining and Shandong Gold's Veladero mine in San Juan province has faced accusations of operating illegally under the old law after cyanide spills in 2015, 2016, and 2017; Barrick previously challenged the glacier statute as unconstitutional, but Argentina's Supreme Court rejected the challenge.
- Vicuña Corp, a joint venture between Australia's BHP and Canada's Lundin Mining, announced an $18 billion investment in two gold, copper, and silver projects in San Juan province in February — the country's largest mining commitment to date.
- Glaciologist Lucas Ruiz of Conicet warned the new framework fails to define what counts as a "significant reserve," calling the change "a political discussion around who defines what we protect and what we don't" rather than a technical one.
- About 7 million Argentines — 16% of the population — live in glacier-dependent areas, and glaciers in the country's northwest have shrunk 17% over the past decade, according to environmental organizations and scientists cited in the article.
- Greenpeace activists who demonstrated on the steps of the National Congress were detained in February, along with a TV camera operator, on the day the law passed the Senate.
Why it matters: The 2010 Ley de Glaciares was the first statute of its kind in Latin America; shifting that authority to provinces — several of which actively lobby for mining expansion — could open previously off-limits high-altitude areas to industrial activity. With glaciers in the northwest already down 17% over the past decade and the $18 billion Vicuña project pending in San Juan, protection of the country's water sources will now be decided province by province rather than by a single national standard.
Ask SkimNews
