Argentine Minister of the Treasury, Nicolás Dujovne; Secretary of Energy, Gustavo Lopetegui; and President of the Argentine Investment & Trade Promotion Agency, Juan Pablo Tripodi, also took part in the meeting at the presidential residence in Olivos, Buenos Aires.
Representing the three mining companies were Founder and Executive Chairman of Yamana Gold, Peter Marrone; General Manager of Glencore Chile, Andrés Souper Herrera; and Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability of Goldcorp, Brent Bergeron, amongst other company representatives.
The integration agreement will allow the Agua Rica project to be developed and operated using the infrastructure and facilities of Minera Alumbrera Limited, in Catamarca.
Preliminary studies show the potential for a mine life in excess of 25 years, with an average annual production of approximately 236,000 tonnes of copper-equivalent metal, including contributions of gold, molybdenum, and silver, for the first 10 years of operation.
The companies estimate that Agua Rica contains proven and probable mineral reserves of approximately 4.5 million tons of copper and almost 200 tons of gold contained in approximately 910 million tons of ore.
Yamana already has operations in Cerro Moro (Santa Cruz province), while Glencore has operations in Aguilar (Jujuy province) and Goldcorp in Cerro Negro (Santa Cruz province).