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On 23 November 2023, the Provinces of Salta and Jujuy ("Provinces") executed an agreement to conduct a comprehensive and cumulative environmental impact assessment to establish a baseline for the Salinas Grandes basin ("Agreement") considering the geological and geographical characteristics of the region.
The effectiveness of the Agreement was subject to the legislature of each Province acknowledging it, which Jujuy did on 15 April 2024 and Salta, on 14 May 2024 (Law 8429).
The Agreement should allow the Provinces to (i) have better information for granting mining concessions in this basin, (ii) perform a better and more agile audit of the environmental impact reports, and (iii) mitigate any claims from the communities.
The Agreement arises in response to a ruling from the National Supreme Court of Justice issued in early 2023 in relation to the amparo filed by indigenous communities that requested the suspension of mining activities in the region and a comprehensive environmental management of the basin. The court did not suspend any activity but requested the Provinces to report on the mining projects in the Salinas Grandes basin (see image attached).
The Agreement also occurs in the context of the Supreme Court of Catamarca's recent decision to suspend the granting of further mining rights within the River Los Patos, in the Salar del Hombre Muerto, until the Province compels the relevant authority to perform a comprehensive and cumulative environmental impact assessment for the zone.
The main terms of the Agreement are:
* Image obtained from the National Glacier Inventory (IANIGLA — Inventario Nacional de Glaciares). 2018. Report on the subbasin of Salinas Grandes. Various basins of the Puna (Informe de la subcuenca de las Salinas Grandes. Cuencas Varias de la Puna). IANIGLA-CONICET, Ministry of the Environment and Sustainable Development of Argentina (Ministerio de Ambiente y Desarrollo Sustentable de la Nación). Page 49.
Spanish version
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Thank you to Tomas Trusso and Delfina Ferrario for their contribution to this alert.
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