en.Wedoany.com Reported - The province of Mendoza, Argentina, has officially restarted the Mining Council, a historic institution within the mining framework. For decades, this council played a central role in managing mining rights and adjudicating disputes over concessions and exploration permits. This week, it resumed operations under a new structure established by reforms to the Mining Procedure Code.
The restart was led by Energy and Environment Minister Jimena Latorre and Energy and Mining Undersecretary Manuel Sánchez Bandini during the council's first formal meeting. The provincial government had previously completed the formal reconstruction of the institution. Officials explained that the council's reinstatement as an institutional strengthening mechanism aims to participate in various mining procedures, enhancing transparency, legal certainty, and administrative quality within Mendoza's mining system.
The new framework redefines the council's scope of authority, substantially altering the distribution of administrative power within the province's mining structure. Its restart does not imply a full restoration of the powers it historically exercised.
Before the enactment of the new Mining Procedure Code, the Mining Council played a central role in the administrative operations of the industry, with responsibilities extending far beyond advisory or technical review functions. As part of the provincial mining authority, it exercised decision-making power over mining concessions, forfeitures, exploration disputes, and various administrative appeals. The new code concentrates first-instance mining authority in the Mining Directorate, redefining the council as a second-instance administrative and advisory body within the Ministry of Energy and Environment. The center of mining decision-making has shifted to the Director of Mining, with the council no longer serving as an original decision-making body but as a subsequent institution responsible for administrative review and institutional oversight.
The transformation of the council's role has been accompanied by political and technical controversy. During legislative discussions on the 2024 code reform, the initial bill proposed abolishing the council entirely through Article 4, while also repealing the law that created the Mining Directorate. This proposal faced opposition from various mining stakeholders, with business associations, professional organizations, and technical representatives warning of the risks of power concentration and questioning the elimination of a long-standing review and oversight body. These concerns led legislators to amend the bill, ultimately retaining the council within the framework, albeit with a different structure and more limited powers, creating an intermediate model that is neither a full continuation nor a complete abolition.
The restart of the Mining Council comes at a time of growth in Mendoza's mining activity. With the advancement of projects such as PSJ, the gradual development of the Malargüe Western Mining District, and the launch of new exploration projects like Don Luis, the province's need for administrative efficiency and legal certainty has increased. The council's return reinstates a long-dormant institutional body, but in a form adapted to Mendoza's new model for organizing the mining sector, marking both institutional continuity and confirming that the distribution of administrative power within the system has changed.
