The mining record of Argentina
319 metallic and lithium projects in the Secretaría de Minería's portfolio, 27 of them in production; 5,270 records in the provincial cadastres that serve live data; and at least 70 mining deaths reported by the Argentine press.
A federal country with no national cadastre. Mining in Argentina belongs to the provinces (Constitution art. 124), so the national layer is a project portfolio, SIACAM, that names each project's controlling companies and stage, and the registry itself lives in 23 provincial offices, of which San Juan and Salta serve live cadastres and Jujuy publishes its resolutions. No source carries a tax id (CUIT), and no level of government publishes a mining accident or a mining-authority sanction. The deaths here come from Spanish-language press, so every count is a floor, and the drafted requests to the SRT and to San Juan and Santa Cruz ask for the records that would replace it.
Looking for US mine enforcement instead? See MSHA violations by operator. · Peru's mining record · Chile's mining record · Colombia's record · Brazil's record · Mexico's record
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A project in SIACAM's portfolio, from prospecting to production, with the companies SIACAM lists as controlling it and their stake.The Secretaría de Minería's Cartera de Proyectos Mineros Metalíferos y Litio, an XLSX refreshed a few times a year (last refreshed here Sep 15, 2026): each project's principal mineral, province, stage and up to three controlling companies with stake and country of origin. Non-metallic projects and aggregates are not in it.
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San Juan's padrón de minas: every registered mine with its titleholder, minerals, department, registered hectares and inscription date, from the province's live cadastre service.ⓘ
Salta's catastro minero: minas, manifestaciones, canteras, cateos, servidumbres and convenios with the concessionaire, status and start date, from the province's live geoportal.ⓘ
Jujuy's environmental-approval (IIA/MAP) and concession resolutions, the only Jujuy tables that name a mine and its company.San Juan's registered mines with titleholder, Salta's full cadastre with concessionaire, and Jujuy's environmental-approval and concession resolutions, synced weekly (last refreshed Sep 15, 2026). Santa Cruz, the largest mining employer, Catamarca and Río Negro publish nothing live; they are gaps, not zeros.
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Counted from press headlines only; no level of government publishes a per-fatality mining record, so the true number is at least this.Spanish-language headlines from 2004 to Aug 10, 2026, read daily through Google News in its Argentine edition (last pull Sep 15, 2026) and classified by a language model against the headline's own words.
No mining authority, provincial or national, publishes a sanction register, and no body publishes a mining accident naming the mine. The SRT publishes fatality rates for the sector, not cases. Three access-to-information requests are drafted: the SRT's case-level fatal-accident extract for the mining sector (national, Ley 27.275), and San Juan's and Santa Cruz's mining inspections, sanctions and accident notifications (provincial laws).
Drafted, not yet filed; the national portal needs an Argentine identity, so the route is email to each office. This line changes to a file number and an answer date the day they are.
“Grave explosión por una reacción química en un yacimiento de Vaca Muerta: hay tres heridos”
“Al menos cinco trabajadores mineros permanecen atrapados en la puna de Catamarca por una tormenta de nieve”
“Archivan la causa por el accidente fatal en Los Azules: el peritaje confirma que el operario anuló el cinturón”
“Investigan un accidente en una minera de Santa Cruz: un camión habría impactado contra el comedor del yacimiento”
“Investigan un accidente en una minera tras choque contra comedor”
“Tragedia en una minera de Santa Cruz: un trabajador se descompensó y murió”
“Murió un trabajador minero en Cerro Moro”
“Murió un trabajador minero sanjuanino en Cerro Moro, Santa Cruz”
“Un trabajador sanjuanino murió en una mina de Santa Cruz”
“Un trabajador sanjuanino se descompensó y falleció en una mina de Santa Cruz”
“Un trabajador sanjuanino se descompensó y murió en una mina de Santa Cruz”
“Dolor en Jujuy por la muerte del operario tras caer de una maquinaria en una mina en Calingasta”
Each row is one headline as an outlet published it, classified and extracted by a language model from the headline and snippet only; several outlets reporting one accident appear as several rows. Press reports, never an official record.
| Project | Mineral | Province | Stage | Controlling companies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farallón Negro | Oro | Catamarca | Production | YMAD, -, - |
| Fenix | Litio | Catamarca | Production | Rio Tinto Group, -, - |
| Hombre Muerto Oeste | Litio | Catamarca | Construction | Galan Lithium Limited, -, - |
| Sal de Vida | Litio | Catamarca | Construction | Rio Tinto Group, -, - |
| Tres Quebradas | Litio | Catamarca | Production | Zijin Mining Group Ltd., -, - |
| Sal de Oro | Litio | Catamarca - Salta | Production | POSCO Holdings Inc., -, - |
| Aguilar | Plomo | Jujuy | Production | Grupo Integra |
| Ajedrez | Oro | Jujuy | Production | Espíritu de los Andes S.A. |
| Cauchari-Olaroz | Litio | Jujuy | Production | Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd., Lithium Argentina, Jujuy Energia y Mineria |
| Córdoba | Oro | Jujuy | Production | Sociedad Minera Santa Maria S.A., -, - |
| La Providencia | Plata | Jujuy | Production | Hanaq Group, -, - |
| Martín Bronce | Cobre | Jujuy | Production | MOM Mining SRL |
| Mina Catalina Ii | Oro | Jujuy | Production | Espíritu de los Andes S.A. |
| Olaroz | Litio | Jujuy | Production | Rio Tinto Group, Toyota Tsusho, Jujuy Energía y Minería |
| Puna Operation (Chinchillas - Pirquitas) | Plata | Jujuy | Production | SSR Mining Inc., -, - |
| Calcatreu | Oro | Río Negro | Production | Patagonia Gold, -, - |
| Centenario-Ratones | Litio | Salta | Production | Eramet, - |
| Lindero | Oro | Salta | Production | Fortuna Mining Corp., -, - |
| Mariana | Litio | Salta | Production | Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd., - |
| Rincón | Litio | Salta | Construction | Argosy Minerals, -, - |
| Sal de Los Ángeles | Litio | Salta | Construction | Revotech Asia Ltda., Xizang Zhufeng Resources Co., Leading Resources Global Ltd. |
| Salar del Rincón | Litio | Salta | Construction | Rio Tinto Group, -, - |
| Casposo | Oro | San Juan | Production | Austral Gold Limited, -, - |
| Gualcamayo / Carbonatos Profundos | Oro | San Juan | Production | Eris LLC, -, - |
| Hualilán | Oro | San Juan | Production | Challenger Gold Ltda., -, - |
| Josemaria | Cobre | San Juan | Construction | Lundin Mining Corporation, BHP Group, - |
| Veladero | Oro | San Juan | Production | Barrick Mining Corporation, Shandong Gold Mining Co. Ltd., - |
| Cap-Oeste | Oro | Santa Cruz | Production | Patagonia Gold, Fomicruz, - |
| Cerro Moro | Oro | Santa Cruz | Production | Pan American Silver Corp, -, - |
| Cerro Vanguardia | Oro | Santa Cruz | Production | AngloGold Ashanti plc, Fomicruz, - |
| Don Nicolás | Oro | Santa Cruz | Production | Cerrado Gold Inc., -, - |
| Las Calandrias | Oro | Santa Cruz | Production | Cerrado Gold Inc., -, - |
| San José | Plata | Santa Cruz | Production | Hochschild Mining Plc, McEwen Mining Inc. |
SIACAM's stage as of its last refresh; the controlling companies are as SIACAM prints them and link to their pages.
| Early exploration | 128 | |
| Advanced exploration | 69 | |
| Prospecting | 59 | |
| Production | 27 | |
| Preliminary economic assessment | 11 | |
| Feasibility | 10 | |
| Construction | 6 | |
| Prefeasibility | 5 | |
| Re-engineering | 3 | |
| Ceased operations | 1 |
| Province | Projects | Producing | Register records | Deaths (floor) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salta | 138 | 3 | 3,935 | 0 |
| Río Negro | 48 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| San Juan | 34 | 4 | 1,335 | 4 |
| Catamarca | 29 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Santa Cruz | 25 | 6 | 0 | 29 |
| Jujuy | 13 | 9 | 0 | 5 |
| Chubut | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| La Rioja | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mendoza | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Neuquén | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Catamarca - Salta | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
SIACAM projects by province, provincial register records where a province serves them (San Juan, Salta, Jujuy only), and press deaths by the province in the headline.
| Operator | Projects | Producing | Register records | Press accidents | Provinces |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | 142 | 35 | 0 | 0 | |
| Patagonia Gold | 9 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Fomicruz | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Ganfeng Lithium Co. Ltd. | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Rio Tinto Group | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| LITHIUM S CORPORATION S.A. | 0 | 0 | 233 | 0 | Salta |
| Cerrado Gold Inc. | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Espíritu de los Andes S.A. | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | |
| Pan American Silver Corp | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hanaq Group | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| MINERA ANSILTA S.A. | 0 | 0 | 144 | 0 | San Juan |
| Barrick Mining Corporation | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| RINCON MINING LIMITED | 0 | 0 | 134 | 0 | Salta |
| CASTAÑEDA NORDMANN RODRIGO | 0 | 0 | 128 | 0 | Salta |
| GOLDEN MINING S.A. | 0 | 0 | 121 | 0 | San Juan |
| AngloGold Ashanti plc | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Austral Gold Limited | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Eramet | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Lithium Argentina | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| POSCO Holdings Inc. | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Challenger Gold Ltda. | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Eris LLC | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Fortuna Mining Corp. | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Grupo Integra | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Hochschild Mining Plc | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Ranked by press events, producing projects, projects and provincial records. Every name a source spells has a page; this table shows the top of the ranking.
Secretaría de Minería de Salta (geoportal, WFS) — Catastro minero: 3,935 records, fetched Sep 15, 2026. →
Ministerio de Minería de San Juan (catastro minero, WFS) — Padrón de minas (vw_minas_padron): 1,335 records, fetched Sep 15, 2026. →
Secretaría de Minería de la Nación (SIACAM) — Cartera de Proyectos Mineros Metalíferos y Litio (XLSX): 331 records, fetched Sep 15, 2026. →
SIACAM is read from the Secretaría de Minería's open-data XLSX; the San Juan and Salta cadastres from their GeoServer WFS; Jujuy from its resolution pages; the press through Google News RSS. None needs a key.