Argentinian Minister of Economy Caputo announced in July that the $217 million lithium mine project of Australian company Galan Lithium in Catamarca Province had been approved to join the RIGI, while the Mariana project of China's Ganfeng Lithium was rejected for not meeting the "new investment" criteria. This is the sixth project approved since the program took effect, bringing the total investment under the RIGI framework to $12.8 billion. Currently, only Rio Tinto's Rincon lithium mine and this project have received approval in the mining sector.