Argentina’s Mendoza province awarded its giant potash project to local firm Cia. Minera Aguilar SA and its Brazilian partner ARG, according to Bloomberg.
The Aguilar-ARG bid prevailed from a shortlist of three groups, and the duo will invest roughly $1 billion over five years to complete the first phase of the Rio Colorado potash mine. The province announced a week earlier that it had narrowed the field to one, but at that point had not named the winner (GM Sept. 8, p. 1).
Mendoza will keep a 12% stake in the mine as well as collect annual royalty payments on the potash produced, Governor Rodolfo Suarez posted on the social media platform now known as X.
Much of the fertilizer will be shipped to Brazil, Emilio Guinazu, who heads the province-owned firm that holds Rio Colorado, said in an interview before the announcement. Some of the potash will also stay in Argentina, itself a huge food supplier, reducing dependence on imports and volatile global markets.
The consortium will take over Rio Colorado a decade after Brazilian mining giant Vale SA withdrew from the project. While potash prices have come off the peaks they touched after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, they are expected to stay at attractive levels, Guinazu said.
In a first phase, Rio Colorado will churn out as much as 1.4 million mt/y using road transport. Initially there will be a pilot plant to help the mine bring production to market within 18 months. A possible second phase would double capacity and shift to rail.
“We’ve achieved a significant feat in the economic history of the province,” Suarez said.
Aguilar is owned by Integra Capital, which is headed up by businessman Jose Luis Manzano, and has purchased oil, power, and lithium assets in recent years.