New York- and Toronto-listed copper development company McEwen Copper has appointed financial services provider Societe Generale to lead the structuring and arrangement of a senior debt package to fund the construction of the Los Azules project, in Argentina.

Societe Generale's scope of work spans both preparatory and implementation phases and includes development of the financing strategy; coordination of lenders' technical, market, environmental and social, insurance, audit and tax due diligence; preparation of the lenders' information package; and assistance with the negotiation.

The financing is expected to be assembled from a combination of export credit agency and commercial bank debt, multilateral and development finance institution facilities and potential project bond or other capital markets instruments.

McEwen Copper says Societe Generale's appointment complements the copper development company's continuing relationship with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), with whom the company has a collaboration agreement to align the project with IFC’s environmental, social and governance standards in anticipation of international project financing. 

"Bringing Societe Generale on board marks a significant step in advancing Los Azules toward construction. Societe Generale's global project finance platform and long-standing relationships with the export credit agency, multilateral and commercial banking community make them an ideal partner to help us assemble a robust, competitively priced debt package for one of the world's largest undeveloped copper projects," comments McEwen Copper MD Michael Meding.

An October 2025 feasibility study estimated the capital cost to develop Los Azules at $3.15-billion.

Newswire Reuters earlier this month quoted Meding as saying that it was seeking to secure a $2.4-billion loan, as part of a $4-billion total financing package for the Los Azules project. He noted that the company was targeting a 40:60 split between equity and debt funding.