Member Article

The purpose of Resolution No. 15/2020 is to implement the remote filing related to the tax break provided by the Mining Investment Law No. 24.196 (“LIM”) regarding the import of equipment and supplies for mining.

It is necessary to bear in mind that Resolutions No. 8, 9, and 14 of the Mining Secretariat enacted: (i) the suspension of all face-to-face filings - which were usually carried out in hard copy paper format - related to the provisions of the LIM, and (ii) the suspension of the deadlines that the National Directorate of Mining Investments had to review a filing.In this sense, the benefits and tax breaks provided by the LIM, once duly filed, are materialized through the issuance of certificates by the mining authority.

In said Resolutions No. 8, 9, and 14, the Mining Secretariat communicated the possibility of using the Platform for “Remote Procedures” (“TAD”) of the Electronic Document Management System (“GDE”), but the reengineering of the procedures from the legal, technological and operational point of view, was in process.

To a large extent, the filing and obtention of certain certificates, such as the authorization certificates for the import of each equipment and supply under the benefit of the LIM, is more urgent than other filings.

Resolution No. 15/2020 of the Mining Secretariat authorized the issuance of certificates and/or documents through the Remote platform TAD of the Electronic System GDE, and provided as Schedule the Import Authorization Template in accordance with the provisions of the LIM. It also made clear: (i) that the filing of said certificates is suspended by any other means (face to face), and (ii) that in case a certificate had been requested face to face before the suspension of face to face filings, then such requests will be considered withdrawn in case the certificate is requested again through the TAD platform.

Ministry of Productive Development, Mining Agency Note No. 27747563 to the Argentine Chamber of Mining Companies – Interpretation of Administrative Decision No. 450/2020 – Mining exploration and prospecting exempted from preventive and compulsory social isolation.

Initially, Decree No. 260 of 03.12.2020 extended in our country the declaration of public emergency regarding health matters. After that, Decree No. 297 of 03.19.2020 ordered the social, preventive, and compulsory isolation (“quarantine”) for all people, with the exception of people dedicated to activities and services regarded as essential during the quarantine.

Back then, mining was not included in the list of essential activities exempted from quarantine. Then, Administrative Decision No. 429/2020 of 03.20.2020 included as an essential activity those“tasks related to the maintenance of environmental protection for mining”, and Administrative Decision No. 450/2020 of 04/02/2020 included “activities related to the production, distribution and commercialization of wood and mining.”

In the mining industry, there is a big difference betweenmining exploitationandmining exploration. While the first refers to extraction and sale, exploration refers to the review and analysis, which requires years of investment. In order to avoid a misleading interpretation, the mining secretariat issued Note 27747563 dated 04.24.2020, addressed to the Argentine Chamber of Mining Companies (CAEM), indicating that “the mining production process is comprised of various interrelated activities” which include “the exploration, and prospecting”.

This is a positive clarification since it dissipates certain questions from the brief terms of these emergency regulations.