The market in numbers
How much lithium, gold, silver, copper and iron the world produces, how much the neighbors and how much Argentina. In lithium the country is already one of the big five; in copper it does not produce yet, but it has one of the largest project pipelines in the world.
Lithium
Mine production in tonnes of lithium content, 2025 (1 t of lithium ≈ 5.3 t of lithium carbonate equivalent, LCE).
Reserves (what is economically recoverable today): world 37, Chile 9.2 and Argentina 4.4 million t. Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
Argentina in 2025: 116,600 t LCE of carbonate and chloride (CAEM). There are 7 projects in operation and 5 under construction, with about 201,000 t LCE per year of capacity; the Mining Secretariat projects 517,000 t per year of capacity by 2035. See Lithium.
Gold and silver
Mine production in tonnes, 2025.
Argentina: 1.18 million ounces (−6%), according to CAEM. Veladero, Cerro Negro, Lindero, Gualcamayo, Cerro Moro and San José. Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · CAEM, Informe productivo 2026.
Argentina: 22.1 million ounces (−7.8%), according to CAEM; the USGS estimates 800 t. Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · CAEM, Informe productivo 2026.
Copper and iron
Mine production, 2025.
Argentina produces about 2,100 t per year at a single small mine (Martín Bronce, Jujuy) since Bajo de la Alumbrera closed in 2018. Josemaría, Taca Taca, PSJ Cobre Mendocino, Los Azules, Filo del Sol, MARA and El Pachón could take it to 1.1 million t in 2032 and 1.5 million in 2035 (Mining Secretariat). Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026 · Panorama Minero.
Argentina does not produce iron ore at scale (Sierra Grande, in Río Negro, does not appear in the statistics). Source: USGS, Mineral Commodity Summaries 2026.
Exports and exploration
Argentina: gold 4,078, lithium 905, silver and others. Chile: copper 55,188. Peru: copper 28,130 and gold 23,244. Source: EconoJournal · Emol · Energiminas.
Argentina: copper 159.8, gold 159, lithium 67.3 and silver 40.1. World: 50% gold and 26% copper. Source: S&P Global · CAEM, Informe productivo 2026.
What it means for a supplier
- In lithium Argentina already produces at global scale and capacity is set to more than double: evaporation plants, chemicals, power, water, camps and logistics in the Puna.
- In copper the country barely produces, but the project pipeline could put it among the world's top ten in the next decade: it is the largest mining construction market coming up.
- Chile and Peru export ten times more minerals than Argentina: they are the benchmark for what a mature mining supply chain looks like.
Fuentes
Updated as of October 13, 2026. Anything to correct or add? Write to us.