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BUENOS AIRES, May 21 (Reuters) - Miner Vicuna Corp,

controlled by Australia's BHP and Canada's Lundin

Mining ( LUNMF ), expects two copper projects in Argentina to

start production in 2030, the company told Reuters.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Argentina has not produced copper since 2018, but currently

has a sizable pipeline of projects that could position the

country among the top 10 global producers.

The deposits at Vicuna's Josemaria and Filo del Sol mines

contain 13 million metric tons of measured copper and 25 million

tons of inferred copper.

KEY QUOTES

"The construction timelines for this type of project, for

each deposit, would take around three years, maybe a little

more," Vicuna's country head, Jose Morea, said in an interview

at ArMinera, a major mining event held in Buenos Aires.

He added that the construction launch will have to wait for

approval after a technical report is submitted.

"It wouldn't be sensible to think that, if approved sometime

after the presentation of that technical report, we could

accelerate it before 2030," Morea said.

WHAT'S NEXT

In the first half of 2026 the companies plan to submit a

technical report to Vicuna's board of directors, which will

determine the exact date of production startup and the useful

life of the projects, the executive added.

Vicuna also plans to apply to join the Large Investment

Incentives Regime promoted by Javier Milei's government to

attract investments.

BY THE NUMBERS

Vicuna plans to invest $400 million this year in the Latin

American country, Morea said, from an estimated total investment

of $5 billion in the projects.

CONTEXT

Josemaria, an advanced copper deposit, is in

pre-construction status. Filo del Sol, a gold, copper and silver

deposit in the exploration stage, is located 11 kilometers from

Josemaria on the border with Chile.