Mining

Minerals and markets

DEMSA was born trading high-grade iron ore and manganese from the Urucum mines, replacing imports that until then came from Australia and South Africa. On that basis it built a capability that today covers industrial minerals and applied rocks —bentonite, barite, asphaltite— on own and third-party deposits.

Trading combines exclusive representation of producers, import and export, and market development: the Argentine steel market, regional re-exports and, increasingly, Asian markets.

The flow now runs in both directions: DEMSA exports bentonite and asphaltite to Brazil for various industries, and is planning the grinding and commercialisation of natural sodium bentonite from Cerro Bandera, Neuquén.

Own deposits

DEMSA holds the Cerro Bandera deposit, in the province of Neuquén, of natural sodium bentonite. It is the starting point of the grinding and export project for the Brazilian market: own ore, own processing and own commercialisation, with no intermediaries at origin.

The rest of the mining operation builds on that base, combining ore from its own deposits with representation agreements and third-party purchases according to what each market requires.

Mining logistics

A mining project is worth what its logistics are worth. DEMSA designs and operates the full chain: road transport from the deposit, barge loading, convoys along the waterway, transhipment at the lower Paraná ports, storage and loading onto ocean-going vessels.