Rio Tinto Applies for Argentina's RIGI Benefit Scheme

Written by Amir Richani for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Rio Tinto (NYSE:RIO) (London, England) applied for the Argentina's benefit program for large investments. This is the 11th project submitted for the Incentive Regime for Large Investments (RIGI) so far.

Rio Tinto has submitted an application for the RIGI for its Rincon lithium project in Argentina's province of Salta. Economy Minister Luis Caputo shared the information on X.

The project foresees investments of $2.7 billion, according to Caputo, and it is expected to have a production capacity of 60,000 tons of battery-grade lithium carbonate per year.

The asset will have a 40-year life cycle, with the first production expected by 2028, followed by a three-year ramp-up.

Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Project Database can learn more by viewing the project report.

Rincon would be Rio Tinto's first large-scale commercial project. However, that will change after Rio Tinto's acquisition of Arcadium Lithium (Buenos Aires, Argentina), one of the world's largest lithium producers.

The acquisition is expected to take place next month, and it will grant Rio Tinto lithium ownership over processing plants worldwide, as well as four lithium mines in Argentina and two spodumene concentrate mines in Australia and Canada.

Rincon's application represents the 11th project submitted under the RIGI and the third one for lithium. So far, only one of the 11 projects has been approved by the government as part of the RIGI.

The RIGI is a fiscal and legal benefit program for companies investing in Argentina that was announced by President Javier Milei last year.

To qualify for the financial scheme, projects in mining, hydrocarbons, renewable energy, technology, infrastructure, and other industries should be worth at least US$200 million. Also, the owners must invest at least 40% of the project's total value in the first two years.

In exchange, the RIGI guarantees that rights, protections and incentives remain stable for 30 years. Additionally, projects benefit from an income tax reduction to 25% compared to the general rate of 35%.

Payments for production exports for projects part of the RIGI will be exempt from the obligation of entry and/or negotiation and settlement in the foreign exchange market.

The scheme also includes special benefits for long-term strategic export projects, which are developments for investments above the US$2 billion.

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