McEwen Copper, a subsidiary of McEwen Mining, holds a 100% interest in the advanced-stage Los Azules porphyry copper exploration project in Argentina's San Juan province.

Situated in the Andes mountains close to the Chilean border, Los Azules is a large high grade open pit project. Its recently updated Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) anticipates average annual production of 322 million pounds of copper cathode over a 27-year Life of Mine (LOM). Marked by competitive cost efficiencies, all roads lead to a compelling economic case, yet this project also places environmental and social stewardship centre-stage. 

McEwen Mining chairman and chief owner, Rob McEwen recognises the very low esteem in which mining is held across the globe and that it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit to the sector, so bad is its profile. To better appeal to hearts and minds, he passionately advocates that people and planet, as well as profits, must be at the core of new projects. Informed by this, it is his intention that Los Azules becomes a present-day exemplar of what tomorrow's optimised mine should look like.

In this endeavour, McEwen Copper is assisted by his name, which precedes it.A more glittering mining bio it would be hard to find, and such recognition and pedigree helps to open doors in a country such as Argentina where relationship-building is key.

Not that Rob McEwen would ideally have it like this. It is his conviction that greater standardisation marked by a rules and merit-based approach to the mining projects under the various provinces' regulatory watch, would serve to reassure and create certainty for foreign investors. Not only would the enhanced efficiencies help to catalyse further investment, but, replicated at scale, he believes this new modus operandi could help build firmer foundations for the country's unsteady economy.

Rob McEwen explained that while the provincial powers can see the advantages of mining, they can be impatient. This frustration relates to the timeframes involved for securing the information necessary to make an economic decision about whether to go forward and build a mine.

As well as an ‘old school' informality to the business culture marked by personalities and a preference for one-off deals sealed with a handshake, there are other unorthodoxies to mining in Argentina that McEwen Mining has been compelled to get its head around. Not least of these relates to claims. Rob McEwen described it thus: "You must have monuments on all corners of your property. All well and good when you're on the flat, but in the mountains it becomes quite strenuous and time consuming."

Such conventional wisdom in Argentina is considered obsolete in many other jurisdictions keen to adopt best international practice to advance procedures and improve efficiency.

Given the obvious economic and social uplift mining would generate for the country, the McEwen Mining chairman regrets the absence to date of a more ‘can-do' mentality towards mining.

Rob McEwen's hope is that Javier Milei's new national government will take steps to mitigate the exacting bureaucracy that is currently serving to discourage the very foreign investment the country so desperately needs. Specifically, Rob McEwen "would like to see them speed up the importation of capital goods and various consumable goods for the mining industry and relax their foreign exchange controls to invite other industries and investors into the country".

Rob McEwen's mission to redefine mining is no mere statement of intent, and he recognises that actions speak louder than words. Details are the oil to the vision, and for Los Azules the company is in possession of a letter from state-owned energy company, YPF, confirming its capacity to provide 100% renewable energy driven by hydro, solar and wind. The project is also set to be marked by heap leaching. This translates to less than a quarter of the water that would be used by a comparable sized conventional copper operation. And it will emit one tenth of the carbon.

McEwen is alarmed that mining's instrumental value to the world is being overlooked. He rightfully recognises it underpins civilised society. Ergo, there is no option but to make changes of sufficient scope and scale that mining is admitted back into the room by policymakers and the electorate. He envisioned that "Some day in the future, a combination of AI and nanotechnology is going to replicate the periodic table in a factory, but that's a few days off".

He wants to do for mining what Uber did for taxis, and the goal is that Los Azules be a real-world manifestation of that vision and what is possible. "That's my mission, and hopefully what we're doing could serve as one of the models going forward for the industry," he said.

Despite the need to tread a sometimes-unconventional path to advance Los Azules, in terms of timing, Rob McEwen believes the project is well positioned to take advantage of an increasing global appetite for copper.

With the political mandates in place for electrification to move forward at pace and scale, but with a failure to acknowledge metal cycles, or how long it takes to permit and raise capital for projects, so is created fertile ground for what McEwen described as "shortages and higher prices".  

From McEwen Mining was born McEwen Copper in July 2021 to better appeal to the market preference for pure plays. This evolution - initially financed in part by Rio Tinto's copper-focused Nuton venture - preceded major strategic investments from global automaker Stellantis, which cumulatively translate to a 19.4% interest. According to Rob McEwen, this funding was facilitated by the mining company's green attitude, which ties in with the car giant's push to have a net zero supply chain by 2038.

There is, then, much to be excited about. For while the chief owner recognises there is something of the frontier about Argentina, he is confident it will become much easier to do business under the new government. And with the Los Azules numbers to date making for excellent reading, the future is set fair.

Here too is a country that is something of a mining blank canvas. The emerging nature of the industry in Argentina represents its latent capital, with the very lack of established protocols, mores and traditions meaning a visionary activist like Rob McEwen can more easily institute a new and better normal than that which is entrenched in other more mature jurisdictions. Through the vehicle of Los Azules, McEwen Mining can help the country to unlock its vast mining potential and at the same time lead by green and responsible example.

In the chairman and chief owner's words, "We believe this is a multigenerational, low-cost deposit that should be in production by 2030 if not before."

With his proven pedigree, few would bet against that happening, or that it will become the unofficial ESG benchmark other mines will be judged against.