Americore Resources (TSXV: AMCO)
Drilling Value in the Silver State
Four South American countries are strengthening policy coordination and leveraging their unique resource endowments to actively address global supply gaps in critical minerals. Although regional cooperation frameworks and existing cross-border projects demonstrate enormous investment potential—with cooperation between Chile and Argentina alone capable of unlocking over US$20.7 billion—translating geological advantages into sustainable industrial capacity still faces numerous real-world challenges. Balancing investment incentives with state oversight, and ensuring long-term policy stability, will be key factors in determining whether South America can truly become a “reliable strategic supplier” in global critical mineral supply chains.
On August 28, Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, and Peru signed a joint declaration at the first Strategic Minerals Ministerial Meeting held in Santiago, Chile, establishing a regional cooperation framework. The framework aims to promote responsible mineral investment, facilitate technological cooperation, and deepen the integration of mineral supply chains, thereby positioning South America as a reliable strategic supplier for the decarbonization, electric mobility, and artificial intelligence industries.
This alliance comes at a time when global demand for critical minerals is surging while new supply development lags. According to International Energy Agency projections, based on existing project pipelines, global copper supply could face a 25 percent demand shortfall by 2035, with the average lead time for new mines exceeding 15 years. The lithium market is also under pressure, as stalled greenfield exploration investment and rising discovery costs exacerbate supply tightness. Against this backdrop, Latin America’s resource endowment appears particularly significant. According to a joint report by the World Economic Forum and McKinsey, the region holds approximately 40 percent of global lithium reserves (contributed by Argentina and Chile) and about 30 percent of copper reserves (primarily in Chile and Peru), while Brazil accounts for roughly one-quarter of global graphite reserves and 15 percent of rare earth reserves. The report notes that the region’s competitive advantage lies not only in resource scale but also in the complementary industrial capabilities among its countries. Meanwhile, Western economies’ efforts to reduce dependence on Chinese supply chains are making South America a prime destination for mining investment.
Chile and Argentina have already begun practicing regional collaboration, removing certain operational obstacles for cross-border mining projects and clarifying permitting and operational procedures on both sides of the border, which helps reduce uncertainty in project planning and financing. Chilean Mining and Economy Minister Daniel Mas stated that reactivating the mining integration treaty with Argentina is expected to unlock over US$20.7 billion in investment and add 540,000 tons of annual copper production to the market. However, transforming geological advantages into industrial manufacturing capacity and enhancing resource value addition remain greater challenges. Brazil’s recent approval of a critical minerals framework reflects this ambition; the plan uses approximately US$1 billion in tax incentives and a new guarantee fund to incentivize domestic processing and production of batteries and magnetic materials, while simultaneously strengthening government oversight, including reviews of foreign partnership arrangements and mining rights transfers, seeking to balance downstream industry incentives with enhanced state control.
Risk intelligence firm Verisk Maplecroft has noted in its analysis that Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru are regarded as attractive critical minerals markets due to their combination of large-scale deposits, relatively low resource nationalism risks, and continuously improving business environments.
