Minerí­a metalí­fera en Santa Cruz. Empleo y matriz productiva

Abstract

Metal mining has been developed in the province of Santa Cruz since mid-90s, by the company Cerro Vanguardia SA, the first to start producing dore bullion in 1998. Later and as a result of the intersection of three favorable circumstances, the activity began to rise steadily until now. These circumstances are: a) changes in the legislation that enacted several laws regarding mining investment, with the intention of standardizing opportunities in Argentina with Chile and Peru, who used to boast about a degree of development much higher, being recipients of foreign direct investment in the sector; b) the mining potential of the territory, whose exploration duties started to develop around the province; c) the crisis in the wool sector, especially in the central plateau of the province. The strong depopulation of the area reduced the potential conflict between mining and farming, helping this new activity to acquire lands at low prices; this crisis in the wool industry presented mining as an activity that generates job opportunities; d) also the important distance of the mining sites from the towns of the province, helped a higher social consensus than the one experimented in other regions of the country. Currently, there is a steady growth of mining in the province of Santa Cruz under general increase in international commodity prices. This involves the introduction of new production technology for mineral recovery and new explorations impulse.