Mendoza Legislature to Receive Environmental Impact Assessment for Cobre San Romeleo Copper Project After Environmental Approval
The Executive Power of Mendoza forwarded to the Legislature the Environmental Impact Declaration (DIA) of the Cobre San Romeleo Project, after the Mining Environmental Authority (AAM) completed the environmental assessment procedure for the metalliferous mining exploitation stage and granted its approval. The filing requires legislative ratification in accordance with current regulations governing metalliferous mining projects in the province, marking a significant milestone in the regulatory advancement of this small-scale extractive initiative.
The submission to the legislative chamber follows the conclusion of an evaluation process that included multiple instances of stakeholder participation, a public hearing with massive citizen participation, and the intervention of technical, scientific, academic, provincial, and municipal bodies. According to available information, more than 90% of the expressions made during the public procedure were favorable to the project, a figure reflecting the social acceptance recorded in the consultation stages.
Project Scale and Productive Purpose
Cobre San Romeleo is positioned as a small-scale project aimed at producing copper oxide destined for the elaboration of copper sulfate, a fundamental input for the production of organic agricultural fungicides. The final product is primarily directed toward Mendoza's wine industry and other regional crops requiring this type of agricultural protection, establishing a direct productive link with the provincial agribusiness sector.
The initiative responds to a sectoral integration model seeking to generate in Mendoza part of the raw material currently sourced from imports or extraprovincial sources. This local production strategy for agricultural inputs is framed within the policy of diversification and productive complementarity promoted by the provincial government, aimed at reducing external dependencies and generating added value in different segments of the supply chain.
Environmental Approval and Regulatory Framework
The Mining Environmental Authority, composed of the Mining Directorate and the Environmental Management and Oversight Directorate of the Ministry of Energy and Environment, completed the technical evaluation of environmental impact for the metalliferous mining exploitation stage. The approved DIA incorporates the set of conditions and obligations that must be met during the different phases of project execution and operation, establishing environmental standards required for mining operations.
The Minister of Energy and Environment, Jimena Latorre, emphasized that
Cobre San Romeleo completed the various stages provided for in the environmental assessment procedure, with the intervention of technical, scientific, academic, provincial, and municipal bodies, and also underwent a public hearing with broad citizen participation and more than 90% of expressions favoring the project
Latorre added that
the Environmental Impact Declaration reflects the outcome of that process and incorporates the conditions and obligations that must be met during the different stages of the project
The official also highlighted the project's concrete linkage with provincial agriculture, underscoring that it is
a small-scale project that furthermore presents a concrete connection with another strategic productive activity for Mendoza: it seeks to generate in the province the raw material necessary to produce copper sulfate used in agriculture, particularly in viticulture
Mining-Agriculture Complementarity
The Minister of Production, Rodolfo Vargas Arizu, emphasized the integrating nature of the project within the provincial productive context.
San Romeleo is a clear example that mining and agriculture are not opposing activities, but rather can complement each other and generate value across different links in Mendoza's productive matrix
Vargas Arizu underscored that
producing in Mendoza part of the inputs our agriculture needs means advancing toward a more integrated productive matrix, generating economic activity and reducing external dependencies
This perspective reflects an industrial policy approach seeking to identify synergies between economic sectors historically perceived as antagonistic, promoting productive linkages that strengthen regional competitiveness.
Next Legislative Steps
The Environmental Impact Declaration now in the Legislature's hands must be submitted for ratification in accordance with the procedures and timeframes established by current regulations for metalliferous mining projects. The filing contains the exhaustive environmental diagnosis, the proposed mitigation measures, and the monitoring and control obligations that must ensure compatibility of mining operations with applicable environmental protection standards.
A Process of Technical Evaluation and Citizen Participation
The environmental assessment of Cobre San Romeleo was processed via filing EX-2022-06032664-GDEMZA-DMI#MEIYE, under Law 5961, Decree 820/06, and other applicable environmental and mining regulations.
During the procedure, the Technical Opinion prepared by the Faculty of Applied Sciences to Industry (FCAI) of the National University of Cuyo was incorporated, along with the opinions and reports of sectoral bodies with specific competence. The observations and recommendations formulated during the evaluation were addressed by the proponent and analyzed by the participating bodies.
The Environmental Impact Report was submitted to a comprehensive evaluation, which included the Technical Opinion of the Faculty of Applied Sciences to Industry of UNCuyo and the intervention of the various sectoral bodies according to their competencies. The observations raised during that process were analyzed and the resulting environmental conditions were incorporated into the DIA, with obligations extending across the different stages of project development
The Director of Environmental Management and Oversight, Leonardo Fernández, explained this.
The procedure included different instances of citizen participation, including participatory workshops and a Public Hearing held in December 2025, under hybrid modality, with in-person participation in the vicinity of the project in Malargüe, and simultaneous participation via a virtual platform.
The interventions, observations, and submissions received were subsequently analyzed in the Detailed Report approved by the Mining Environmental Authority.
Also participating was the Mining Environmental Interdisciplinary Evaluation Commission (CEIAM), composed of representatives from provincial and municipal bodies, scientific institutions, and universities.
Participants included INTA, the Municipality of Malargüe, the National Technological University, the General Department of Irrigation, the Protected Areas Directorate, the Biodiversity and Ecopark Directorate, the Territorial Planning Directorate, the Environmental Management and Oversight Directorate, the Provincial Environmental Council, and the Mining Directorate.
The Commission's work culminated in the preparation of a Final Single Report, whose recommendations were considered in the Environmental Impact Declaration according to the stage of execution and development of the project in which they are applicable.
The Cobre San Romeleo Project
The project holder and proponent is LABSA SA and its operation will be conducted by AREX MINING S.A. The undertaking is located at Isaac Waters Post, San Romeleo Ravine, RÃo Barrancas District, approximately 160 kilometers south of the city of Malargüe.
This is a small-scale mining operation with an anticipated processing capacity of 40 metric tons of ore per day. According to information presented by the proponent, the deposit has estimated reserves of 257,000 metric tons, with an average grade of 1.29% copper and an anticipated exploitation horizon of approximately 20 years. The estimated investment for its startup amounts to USD 3 million. These parameters coincide with those recorded in the project's executive summary.
The project contemplates the extraction and processing of copper ore to obtain a product that will be used as raw material for the manufacture of copper sulfate and other fungicides for agricultural use, including those used in organic crops.
Processing will be conducted through a closed-circuit ammonia dissolution system, which allows for recovery and recirculation of the main reagents used in the process. According to the documentation presented, gases generated are captured, condensed, and reused to regenerate the leaching solution, reducing reagent consumption and effluent generation.
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Cobre San Romeleo demonstrates that a small-scale mining project can integrate directly with other productive chains in Mendoza. In this case, the goal is to produce locally the raw material for copper sulfate production used by viticulture and other crops, adding value to a provincial mineral resource and generating economic activity and service contracting in Malargüe
— Highlighted the Director of Mining, Jerónimo Shantal.
Environmental Conditions and Stage-by-Stage Controls
The Environmental Impact Declaration establishes a scheme of obligations and controls organized according to the different project stages: pre-construction, construction, exploitation, closure, and post-closure.
Among the principal conditions is the requirement that, prior to commencing activities, the company must present an Environmental Baseline, which also contemplates protocols for fauna protection; maintain an Environmental Monitoring Plan covering water, soil, air, flora, and fauna; implement a Social Monitoring Plan and a Contingency Plan; and establish sufficient guarantee to ensure remediation of any potential environmental damage.
Protection of water resources occupies a central place among the established conditions. Prior to construction, the company must obtain the corresponding water use permit from the General Department of Irrigation and present information and engineering related to project installations, waterproofing systems, effluent management, fluid transport, water consumption and possible reuse, and spill prevention.
The DIA further requires submission of the engineering corresponding to the project's main installations, including the tailings dam, waste rock dumps, and exhausted ore pile, with their respective waterproofing, drainage, and containment systems. It also contemplates specific studies on leaching potential and metal mobility and their possible impact on water resources.
During the construction and exploitation stages, the planned monitoring programs must be executed covering surface and groundwater, air quality, soils, flora and fauna, in addition to noise controls and other environmental components contemplated in the approved plans. Likewise, records of water consumption must be maintained and effluent management and contingency response plans must be followed.
Environmental obligations extend beyond the exploitation stage. The company must prepare and execute a Technical Closure and Environmental Remediation Project and a Post-Closure Environmental Monitoring Plan. The latter will have a minimum duration of five years, a period that may be extended based on results obtained and the evolution of site environmental conditions.
The Environmental Impact Declaration establishes that activities must be conducted in accordance with the evaluated Environmental Impact Report and the conditions, instructions, and measures incorporated during the procedure.
Likewise, the project remains subject to monitoring and oversight by the Mining Environmental Authority and the Mining Environmental Police, without prejudice to controls corresponding to other bodies within their respective competencies. The resolution also ensures free access by control authorities to project facilities.
With submission of the bill, the Environmental Impact Declaration of Cobre San Romeleo is submitted to the treatment of the provincial Legislature and its final approval will be subject to the corresponding legislative ratification provided for by current regulations.