STATE-owned freight operator Belgrano Freight and Logistics last month operated the first train carrying mining supplies from Chenault in Buenos Aires province to Olacapato, located in the province of Salta in northwest Argentina.

The inaugural train carrying 1500 tonnes of supplies, including reagents, mining equipment and spare parts, ran for 1600km from Chenault to Olacapato, located on Line C14 of the 1000mm-gauge Belgrano network. Line C14 runs from the city of Salta to Socompa on the border with Chile. Rising to 4334m above sea level, it is one of the highest railways in the world.

Long known for its lithium, copper, gold, and borate reserves, the province of Salta exports most of its production west by rail to the port of Antofagasta in Chile. The new flow brings mining supplies equipment from Argentina’s industrial heartland to the high-altitude mines and establishes Chenault as an increasingly important transhipment hub in the national mining logistics network.

Integrating rail into mining production enables the sector to move large volumes of raw materials and key components required for the installation and operation of mining projects, a costly process demanding major investment. At the same time, moving consignments by rail not only lowers costs but also reduces mining’s carbon footprint.

Belgrano Freight and Logistics sees the mining sector as a key driver of future traffic growth, with the company’s president, Alejandro Núñez, joining his management team to address recent industry conferences in San Juan and Catamarca.

“Logistics must be considered a core component of the mining production process, it should not be treated as an afterthought,” Núñez says.

“That’s why we celebrate these types of shipments, which form a fundamental part of mining operations.”

New grain fleet

Separately, Belgrano Freight and Logistics has taken delivery of the second and final batch of 90 new grain hopper wagons supplied by China Machinery Engineering Cooperation (CMEC), part of an order for 180 wagons placed in 2023. The $US 22m contract was privately financed by Chinese agricultural commodity distribution company COFCO International, Viterra and the Association of Argentinian Cooperatives (ACA).

The new wagons have a payload of 55 tonnes each and will increase capacity by 400,000 tonnes a year on Belgrano services connecting grain producers in the provinces of Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, Córdoba, Chaco, Tucumán, Santiago del Estero, Salta and Jujuy with the port of Rosario.

The wagons will be formed into four trains of 45 wagons each, hauled by locomotives that have been comprehensively overhauled at the Belgrano workshops in Córdoba under an agreement between the freight operator and the grain shippers.

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