Senator Gerardo Zamora proposes rare earth inclusion in Mining Code

Senator Gerardo Zamora has introduced a bill in the Argentine Senate to reform the national Mining Code, aiming to formally include rare earth elements within the first category of minerals. The proposal seeks to address a current legal vacuum regarding these high-impact technological resources, which include lanthanides, scandium, and yttrium.

The initiative is designed to provide legal certainty to provinces, which hold original domain over their natural resources under the National Constitution. By establishing a clear regulatory framework, the bill intends to attract investment, promote exploration, and encourage local industrialization and processing to ensure value is added at the source.

This legislative move responds to the increasing global strategic importance of rare earth elements for the energy transition and high-tech industries. The project also encourages provincial states to coordinate sustainable management and control of these deposits within their territories.