The Project is being developed by Rincon Mining Pty Limited – Argentina Branch (the “Borrower”), which is incorporated in Argentina. Rincon Mining Pty Limited is a wholly owned, indirect subsidiary of Rio Tinto PLC, the Sponsor. Rio Tinto is a leading global metals and mining company headquartered in the United Kingdom with operations in 35 countries. Rio Tinto (https://www.riotinto.com/) is dually listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE:RIO) and Australian Securities Exchange (ASX:RIO).

 The Project cost is estimated at ~US$2.5 billion. It will be financed using a combination of debt and equity. The proposed IFC investment comprises an A Loan of up to US$400 million, and the remaining debt requirements will be mobilized through parallel loans.

The project is located on the Salar del Rincon in Salta Province, Argentina, at an altitude of 3,800 meters. It is 1,760km from Buenos Aires and 30km from the Chilean border. The main route to the Project site is from the provincial capital of Salta (approximately 280 km via San Antonio de los Cobres).

In 2024, Argentina's mining sector generated export revenues of US$4.6bn (only 4.7% of total export revenues). Argentina became a member of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) in 2019 and currently holds a “Moderate” overall score for its implementation. IBRD has been supporting Argentina on its EITI implementation.

The overall governance risk to the project benefits is low. The Project is expected to deliver substantial economic benefits through the generation of foreign currency earnings, increased government revenues, and the creation of both direct and indirect employment opportunities. The Borrower has agreed to publicly disclose its payments (taxes, royalties, etc.) to the government and the key terms/conditions of any contracts with the government under which minerals will be mined.

Additionally, Rio Tinto, an experienced operator, will implement all its formal corporate governance frameworks, mirroring its corporate standards at the Borrower level. As it is a publicly listed company, Rio Tinto adheres to the corporate governance principles in the UK Corporate Governance Code, the Listing Rules and the Disclosure and Transparency Rules published by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, the ASX Corporate Governance Council’s Corporate Governance Principles and Recommendations, and the NYSE Corporate Governance Standards.

This is a Category A project as per IFC's Policy on Environmental and Social Sustainability, as the project activities have the potential to cause significant adverse E&S risks and/or impacts that are diverse, irreversible, or unprecedented. Due to the project's location in a dry and sensitive region of the Andes, the primary E&S risk is associated with water-related impacts in the environment (fresh and brackish aquifers, lagoons, and wetlands with the corresponding impacts to high biodiversity values). Furthermore, the project is located within the Los Andes Nature Wildlife Reserve, an LPA characterized by the presence of wetlands, lagoons, and other water features, which sustain charismatic birds and Extremophile Microbial Ecosystems (EMEs), habitats essential to a range of restricted species. The habitat is Natural per IFC PS6 definition and Critical Habitat for several herpetofauna species and EMEs. Additionally, there are three Indigenous Peoples (IPs) Communities in the DAI of the project.