First Quantum readies Argentina tax-break plans for $5.3 billion Taca Taca copper project

Oct 23 (Reuters) - First Quantum Minerals plans to apply before year-end for Argentina's large-investment incentive regime for its Taca Taca copper project, Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno said on Friday, in an investment of up to $5.25 billion for one of the world's largest undeveloped copper projects.

Argentina's RIGI tax-break mechanism is part of President Javier Milei's drive to attract foreign capital to Argentina, including in its mining sector, and the push to turn the country into a bigger supplier of copper - a metal vital for power grids, electric vehicles and data centers.

• Quirno said the project involved an initial investment of $4.2 billion that could rise to $5.25 billion, creating as many as 4,000 construction jobs and 2,000 operating jobs.

• Located in the northwestern province of Salta, Taca Taca is a large, long-life copper project that First Quantum has said could produce about 209,000 metric tons of copper annually over a 35-year mine life, with scope for future expansion.

• Taca Taca would give First Quantum a potential new long-life source of production at a time when miners are racing to secure future copper supply, and as First Quantum works to rebuild growth after the shutdown of its flagship Cobre Panama mine.