McEwen Copper Inc is in talks with global lenders as it seeks financing for its US$4-billion Los Azules project in Argentina, a potential step toward bringing one of the country’s largest undeveloped deposits into production.
The company is engaging with multiple export-credit agencies, including US Export-Import Bank, to line up funding tied to equipment sourcing, Managing Director Michael Meding said in an interview. US-manufactured mining equipment such as haul trucks may help anchor potential Ex-Im-backed financing, he said, adding that discussions are at an early stage.
Talks also are underway with US International Development Finance Corp., as well as financial groups from Europe and Japan, Meding said. He met last month with officials from DFC and Ex-Im in New York, while a delegation from Japan recently visited the Los Azules site in the Andes near the Chilean border.
Los Azules is seeking roughly US$4 billion in total financing, including US$3.2 billion for capital expenditures, with the company targeting a mix of 30 percent to 40 percent equity and the remainder in debt. Export-credit agencies are expected to play a key role, with some already offering to finance as much as 85 percent of equipment costs, according to the company.
Spokespeople for Ex-Im and DFC declined to comment.
The two federal agencies are pillars in the Trump administration’s push to build a strategic stockpile of critical minerals, aimed at shielding US manufacturers from supply disruptions and reducing reliance on Chinese rare earths and other metals. Ex-Im is set to provide US$10 billion in financing for President Donald Trump’s Project Vault initiative, which aims to procure and store key minerals for automakers, technology companies and other industrial users.
The outreach underscores growing interest from financial institutions in Argentina’s mining sector, which Meding said has strengthened over the past year amid improving policy conditions and new bilateral agreements, including a recent US-Argentina framework to prioritize access to minerals such as copper.
McEwen Copper is also in the midst of interviewing advisers with a goal of raising US$300 million or more through an initial public offering, said Rob McEwen, chairman of McEwen Mining Inc, the company’s largest shareholder. Stellantis NV and Nuton, a Rio Tinto Group venture, also have stakes in McEwen Copper.
The Los Azules project was approved for inclusion in the Milei administration’s strategic development initiative in September, and a feasibility study was completed the following month, making it “a good time to look to finance,” McEwen said in an interview. “We’ll probably be one of the first new copper mines in Argentina built.”
McEwen Copper has been evaluating an IPO since at least 2023. The plan was delayed after investments from Stellantis and Nuton gave the company greater financial flexibility.
Additional equity financing may come from Rio Tinto or another senior mining partner seeking to develop Los Azules as a joint venture, or through several parties combining to acquire a stake in McEwen Copper, according to Meding.
“There’s serious high-level interest,” he said. “Some of our partners have spent several million dollars on due diligence.”
by Sybilla Gross & James Attwood, Bloomberg
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