US to fund US$7bil of Argentina mineral, energy projects

NEW YORK: The US Export-Import Bank plans to fund up to US$7 billion worth of critical minerals and energy projects in Argentina, according to a document seen by Reuters, as part of a push to deepen economic cooperation between Washington and Buenos Aires.

The funding is part of a package to be announced in New York on Wednesday during the United Nations General Assembly, a person familiar with the matter said, as the US seeks more access to Western Hemisphere energy and critical minerals.

Under Argentine President Javier Milei, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, ties between Washington and Buenos Aires have deepened through closer alignment on economic policy.

The relationship has been bolstered by US backing for Milei's market-orientated reforms and by a preferential trade and investment agreement announced in February that included cooperation on critical minerals. Argentina's Congress has yet to ratify the bilateral deal.

Argentina's presidency did not immediately respond to request for comment.

Argentina has large deposits of lithium, shale oil and other commodities. The US funds will allow companies working in the South American country to receive loans to buy equipment from American manufacturers, among other uses, in the next two years.

Argentina, Chile and Bolivia form ​the so-called "lithium triangle", concentrating the world's ⁠largest supplies of the white metal used in electronics, electric vehicles and other key technologies.

Major commodity companies already operating in Argentina include Rio Tinto, which extracts lithium for use in batteries, BHP, which is developing a copper project, and Chevron, which has a large shale oil and gas project.

Milei's government, which faces a presidential election in 2027, ​has promoted ​an incentive regime for large investments known as RIGI as a cornerstone of efforts to ​attract foreign capital into strategic sectors ​including ⁠energy, mining and infrastructure.

Italy's Eni and Argentina's state-run YPF submitted a joint application last month under RIGI for their US$51 billion liquefied natural ‌gas project.

Luis Lucero, Argentina's mining minister, earlier this year told Reuters his country could be exporting 580,000 metric tonnes of lithium and 1,641,000 metric tonnes of copper annually by 2036, which would be five times higher than 2025 levels.