Bruce Johnson
Manager New Projects
Cardno BEC

BRUCE is the Manager of New Projects with Cardno BEC and oversees the development of new projects for the company and the integration of its services in industrial electrical, control systems and communications engineering into new regional areas. This work includes the management of the company's development of the Peruvian design office and projects in mining, oil & gas and power and water utilities here and in other Latin American countries.

Bruce has been with Cardno BEC since its acquisition of BEC Engineering in July 2011 and spent 16 years with BEC Engineering prior to that as Principal – Controls & Automation and in many lead and senior design roles on construction projects. After graduating from the University of Western Australia with a Bachelor of Engineering, Bruce spent two years site based at the Kalgoorlie Superpit Gold Mine for KCGM and three years with GIS Engineering prior to joining BEC Engineering. He is a member of Engineers Australia, the IEEE Control Systems Society and has an MBA from Deakin University.

Bruce has focused in recent years on providing optimisation and efficiency projects for large bulk material handling facilities for iron ore and coal, port operations, gold and copper process plants as well as vehicle automation and collision avoidance solutions to add to Cardno BEC's core electrical, controls and communications capabilities.

Derek Hunter
CEO
Kinetic Group

Derek Hunter's background is in education, leadership development and organisational change, three key elements needed to focus on the challenge laid bare by the resources boom and how industry can go about planning for it.

Since his appointment as CEO of Kinetic Group in 2006 (formerly called the Mining Industry Skills Centre from 2006-2011), Derek Hunter has led the successful transition of the organisation from a former State Government body, to a fully independent, self-funded Centre of Excellence specialising in workforce planning and workforce development in the resources industry.

Derek's background at all levels of education, combined with considerable experience in workplace culture, leadership development and organisational change have been key in driving the projects of Kinetic Group with a proactive focus on workforce planning and development, within the Australian and international resources industries.

Harris Gómez
Managing Partner
Harris Gomez Group

Harris Gómez is the principal of Harris Gómez Group (“HGG”), an international and multidisciplinary firm specialising in “cross border” transactions between Australia and Latin America. HGG is unique in that it takes an Australian perspective on investing in the Region. HGG is the only Australian/Chilean legal firm in the market.

Harris has over 17 years of legal and business experience, and his team of over 20 locally admitted lawyers, accountants and patent attorneys have a deep understanding of the l­egal and business cultures in both Latin America and Australia. Harris’s clients include governments, many of Australia’s existing companies in the Region and Latin American companies set up in Australia.    

As the past president of the Australia Chile Chamber of Commerce, as well as the past president of the Australia Peru Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Australia, and a former director of the Australia Latin America Business Council (ALABC), Harris has a strong network of mining contacts and can assist in identifying, and providing due diligence for, mining projects in both Latin America and Australia.  
 
With his extensive international legal and business experience, he can provide practical advice for businesses involved in international trade and can act at all stages of negotiation, strategic planning and how to best approach the region.  He can also advise on ways by which companies can fully leverage from all the Free Trade Agreements and Double Tax Agreements in existence.

Jose Blanco
Chairman
Australia-Latin America Business Council

Jose has served as the Country Manager of Banco Santander's Representative office in Australia since 1990. Prior to joining Santander in 1990, Jose practised as a lawyer for 10 years, having been a partner in the firm of Bodors and a consultant to Cutler Hughes & Harris.Other senior positions held by Jose include:

- President of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Australia from 2001 to 2007.
- Vice-Chairman of the Federal Government’s Council on Australia Latin America Relations from 2001 to 2010.
- Chairman of the Australia-Latin America Business Council since 1992 and continuing.
- Honorary Secretary of the Overseas Bankers’ Association of Australia from 1993 to 2001.
- Member of the Advisory Council of the Institute for International Studies of the University of Technology, Sydney, from 1997 to 2001.

Phil Hopkins
CEO
South American Ferro Metals

Mr Hopkins holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Mining) and is a graduate of the Banff School of Advance Management as well as holding qualifications as a registered professional engineer in four districts worldwide.  Mr Hopkins’ 30 years in the mining industry has included experience in technical, projects, operations and corporate arenas.  His career has included work with Cominco limited, Falconbridge Limited, Placer Dome Limited, BHP Billiton Limited and St Barbra Limited and has included international postings in Canada, Papua New Guinea, South Africa and Australia.  Mr Hopkins’ experience includes both underground and open pit mining and covers the commodities of copper, Nickel, Gold and Iron Ore.

Ignacio Randle
Partner
Estudio Randle

Ignacio J. Randle is a partner at the law firm Estudio Randle in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Mr. Randle received his law degree from the Catholic University of Argentina in Buenos Aires in 1986 and holds a Master in Laws from the University of Chicago Law School. He practiced as a foreign attorney with Baker & Botts in Houston, Texas and Washington, D.C., and with McDermott, Will & Emery in Chicago, Illinois.

Mr. Randle's practice focuses on international business transactions, with emphasis in energy and natural resources projects. He represents domestic and foreign companies doing business in Latin America, as well as Argentine companies pursuing business opportunities abroad.

Mr. Randle has published in different countries and also lectures in the Law School and the School of Economics in Buenos Aires, as well as in other fora in Argentina and abroad. He is current Senior Vice-Chair of the Mining Law Committee of the International Bar Association, Officer of the Corporate Social Responsibility Committee of the International Bar Association and Trustee of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation.

Richard Boele
Managing Director
Banarra

Richard Boele is an international accountability expert, having specialised in a rights-based approach to social accountability and assessment for over 18 years. That period has seen him build an impressive body of global experience that spans civil society, private and public sectors at all levels from working with local community organisations and global companies to the United Nations.

Richard has extensive experience of managing human rights impacts, issues and cross-cultural differences from his time as The Body Shop's global Human Rights Manager and before that, as Communications Director for an international human rights organization.

Richard has significant working experience with business, human rights and social risks through a wide range of clients; many in the resource sector. His current mining clients include Barrick, BHP Billiton, MMG, Newmont, Newcrest, Rio Tinto and Xstrata.

Richard is a Director of the United Nations Global Compact Network Australia. He is a Visiting Fellow at Faculty of Environment and Geography at Macquarie University where he guest lectures on a range of course including social impact assessment. Richard has both published and commented on business, social risks and human rights in a wide range of media including Australian Financial Review, BOSS Magazine, ABC Radio, Sky TV, Sydney Morning Herald. He was a key note speaker at the first International Conference on Social Responsibility in Mining held in Santiago, Chile in October 2011.

Robert Milbourne
Partner
Norton Rose

Robert Milbourne is an energy, resources, infrastructure and mergers and acquisitions lawyer based in Brisbane.

Robert has over a decade of experience advising private sector clients on a variety of energy, resources and major infrastructure projects, M&A transactions, joint ventures and large-scale complex commercial transactions predominately in the resources sector.

Robert has worked on transactions throughout the Asia-Pacific region for most of his career, and has lived and worked in both Indonesia and China.  Prior to joining Norton Rose, Robert served as General Counsel and Company Secretary of mining company Vale Australia, where he worked primarily in coal mining, logistics and mineral exploration.  Earlier in his career Robert spent several years in Brazil as Chief Counsel for International Projects for Vale, where he led transactions in over 30 different jurisdictions around the world.  Robert also has expertise with respect to political risk insurance products and has assisted insurers and insureds on PRI products in the energy and resources sectors throughout South America and Asia.

His areas of expertise are:

Energy, infrastructure & resources: including both operations and greenfield project development in relation to energy, mining and infrastructure projects; advising of development and M&A in relation to energy, major infrastructure and resources projects; user agreements for infrastructure e.g. Port & Rail; advising on long term take or pay contracts and joint venture arrangements.

Steve Tainton
GM Investor Relations
Metminco

Stephen has spent most of his working career in South Africa, having started as a Research Geologist in 1980 with Johannesburg Consolidated Investment Company Limited (“JCI”), a major South African mining company with a spread of mining operations in the gold, platinum, coal and base metals sectors.

Through his career he advanced to senior management levels, having been extensively involved with deep level exploration for Witwatersrand paleoplacer deposits in his earlier years, followed by various gold exploration initiatives in Africa, and ultimately, the evaluation of investment opportunities for JCI on a world-wide basis.  Whilst Stephen’s focus has primarily been on gold, he has been involved with a broad spectrum of commodities, which include coal (South Africa), diamonds (South Africa, Angola, Central African Republic), copper-cobalt (Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and copper-molybdenum (South America).

He has served on the Boards of several listed and unlisted companies, the former of which includes the position of Executive Director with Western Areas Limited, a significant gold producer with a 50% share in South Deep Gold Mine (South Africa), with a Mineral Reserve base in excess of 30 million ounces.  Stephen was involved with the sale of Western Areas Limited to Gold Field Limited in 2007, whereafter he joined Gold Fields Limited as Senior Advisor – Strategy, on its four deep level mining operations (South Deep, Kloof, Driefontein and Beatrix), which have produced in excess of 16 tons of gold per quarter.

Having left Gold Fields Limited in 2010, Stephen then joined Partners In Performance as Senior Engagement Manager, involved with business process re-engineering.

Jose Andres Herrera
Head of Mining Investment
Chile Foreign Investment Review Committee

José Andrés Herrera studied Industrial Engineering at the University of Santiago in Chile. He joined the Foreign Investment Committee in March 2012. He is currently responsible for promoting and facilitating investment decisions in the mining industry as well as in sectors that supply goods and services to the mining industry. Before taking up his present post, he worked as a Mining Investment Executive with the InvestChile program of Chile's Economic Development Agency (CORFO), between 2008 and 2010, as executive secretary of the Chilean Mining Cluster.

José Andrés is a member of the board of directors of the University of Chile's Mining Operations Research Centre and is a lecturer and researcher with the Mining Development Program of the Central University in Chile. He is author and co-author of a number of academic papers and a regular columnist of different specialized mining publications.

Francisco Cendejas Cruz
Regional Coordinator
Mexican Geological Survey

Francisco has been the Regional Coordinator for the Mexican Geological Survey for the past 2 years. In this position he is responsible for coordinating and supervising the technical and administrative activities of all the regional offices of the Mexican Geological Survey.

Francisco graduated in engineering geology from the National Politechnic Institute of Mexico and also undertook postgraduate studies at the National School of Applied Geology and Mining Engineering in Nancy, France.

During his career, Francisco has worked firstly as a Support Geologist and then as a Project Manager on many mining projects throughout Mexico. Prior to being appointed Regional Coordinator he was Manager of the Northwest Region of Mexico of the Mexican Geological Survey.

Rodrigo Martinez Soreque
Special Advisor
General Coordination of Mining, Mexico Ministry of Economy

Since 2010, Rodrigo has been Special Advisor, General Mining Coordination of the Mexico Ministry of Economy. His responsibilities include the supervision of legal, economic and technical information submitted to the General Coordinator of Mining for approval, and advising the General Coordinator in relation to human rights, social responsibility, sustainable development and relationship with stakeholders.

Prior to his appointment as Special Advisor to the General Coordinator of Mining, Rodrigo held a number of other positions within the Mexico Ministry of Economy.
Early in his career he worked as a commercial lawyer with a number of legal firms in Mexico.

Alexandre Calmon
Partner Infrastructure and Natural Resources
Veirano Advogas

Alexandre Calmon is a partner in the infrastructure and natural resources group with Veirano Advogados, one the largest Brazilian and Latin America law firms. Based in Rio de Janeiro, Alexandre has practiced natural resources law for over a decade with a strong focus on M&A transactions throughout Brazil both in the oil and gas, mining and infrastructure sectors.

In his oil and gas practice Alexandre and the team coordinated by him advise oil and gas onshore and offshore clients in shares and asset acquisitions and divestments in Brazil, concession contracts, product marketing, gas and crude purchase, pipeline transportation, joint ventures, in addition to dealings with Petrobras and the Brazilian National Petroleum Agency – ANP.

In his mining practice Alexandre and the team coordinated by him advise majors and juniors mining clients on acquisitions and divestments of mining licenses and mining companies, carrying out preliminary and post-acquisition due diligences, drafting and negotiating of acquisition documents, royalty, marketing and finance agreements in connection with the exploration, development, construction and financing of mining projects throughout Brazil (including diamonds, gold, manganese, iron ore, vanadium and potash).

Alexandre holds a bachelor degree from the school of law of the Candido Mendes University (2001), in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. And has undertaken post graduate studies on US legal system at the George Washington University. Alexandre is a co-author of the chapter on Mining in Brazil of the Get the Deal Through annual publication.

Alexandre has also been recognized by Who's Who Legal, the independent research partner of the International Bar Association, as one of the world's leading mining lawyers since 2009 and also as one of the world's leading energy lawyers since 2011.

Gerardo Castillo
General Director
Societas Consultora De Analisis Social

Anthropologist with MSc in Development Studies by the University of Bath and MA in Geography by the University of Oklahoma. Coordinator in the Diploma of Extractive Industries: Monitoring and Sustainable Development and Lecturer in the School of Social Science of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. Independent consultant on social development and extractive industries with more than ten years of experiences in the sector and engagement experience with rural populations and indigenous people.

Executive with experience in the design of development projects, elaboration of social analysis studies and impact assessments, establishment of relationship strategies between local communities and extractive firms, and analysis of national policies on mining, oil and community relations. General Director of Societas Social Analysis Consultants.

David Landers
General Manager Growth and Emerging Markets
Austrade

David Landers was appointed as General Manager International Operations – Growth and Emerging Markets, effective October 2011. In this role he has responsibility for strategic and operational oversight of Austrade operations in Latin America, South Asia, Middle East, North Africa, Sub-Sahara Africa, Russia and Central Asia. Austrade assists Australian companies to grow their international business, attracts productive foreign direct investment into Australia and promotes Australia's education sector internationally. He is based in Sydney.

David Landers brings to Austrade extensive international management experience via leadership roles (CEO, COO, CSO, CFO, M&A, Board Director) in multi-national corporate, top-tier management consulting and venture capital organisations. He is proficient in a diversity of industries — most notably food & beverage, financial services, high technology and environmental sectors. David has lived and worked across most continents, with significant time spent in high growth and emerging markets, particularly China, Indonesia, India and Saudi Arabia.

During the past 10 years David was the founder and CEO of a $51 million emerging technology fund that invested into 14 portfolio companies based on innovation developed within major Australian universities and government research centres. Previously, he was executive vice president of sales and chief financial officer of Asia Foods Ltd, a manufacturing and distribution business he co-founded in Shanghai and Beijing from 1995 to 1998, and subsequently sold in a trade sale to major UK based multinational, Compass Group PLC. Prior to that he was the Asia regional head of M&A and strategy for Pepsi Cola International, where he completed close to $1 billion in transactions over a five-year period. Earlier, David gained five years' experience in financial services industry strategy development and implementation and government sector privatisation for clients of Booz Allen & Hamilton throughout the Asia region.

David has an MBA in International Business from the New York University Stern School of Management and is an honours graduate of the International Management Program at the Stockholm School of Economics. He received his Bachelor of Science degree with distinction from the School of Entrepreneurial Management, Babson College, in Boston, USA. He has been a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (FAICD) since 2003.

Gavin Lind
Executive Director
Minerals Tertiary Education Council invited

Gavin is a mining engineer with early career experience in both the deep level gold mines and underground coal mines in his native South Africa. With a keen interest in financial and operational risk management, Gavin pursued and completed his Ph.D. in this topic at his alma mater, The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), Johannesburg, in 2004, before joining the ranks of the academic world at the universities of Pretoria, Wits and most recently Curtin University (at the Western Australian School of Mines in Kalgoorlie). Following various professional roles in industry, academia and government in both South Africa and Australia, Gavin joined the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) in 2010, first as its Assistant Director of Higher Education, and now as its Executive Director of the Minerals Tertiary Education Council (MTEC).

Eduardo Chaparro Avila
Executive Director
ASOMINEROS Colombian Chamber of Mining - ANDI

Eduardo Chaparro- Avila, is a Colombian geologist graduated from the National University of Colombia, with studies in Light Industry, Political Science and Environmental Management.

Mr Chaparro is the current Executive Director of the largest mining Association in Colombia: Asomineros, Chamber of Mining - Andi, since May 2011. He has been associated for the last thirteen years to the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) as responsible for both, the management of mining affairs for Latin America and the Caribbean, and the prevention of disasters caused by natural phenomena. He has a broad experience in the coal industry, the production of emeralds, gold, ceramics and rough materials, and in training related to these fields.

He founded the National Mining Rescue Service of Colombia.  He received training as Station Chief in the Central Rescue Centre in Poland and the UK, in mine ventilation at the University of Nottingham (UK), and strategic marketing of coal at Exxon Research in Bay Town Texas and Coral Gables, Florida.
He has worked on tasks such as: prospecting, surface exploration, exploratory drilling, geophysics and photo-geology interpretation, geological mapping, reserves evaluation, feasibility studies, project management and design exploration of mines, he held various management and leadership positions such as Director General of Mines of Colombia, General Manager of Minerals of Colombia SA, Ecocarbon Manager and member of the Board of Ingeominas. He has been for five years, Chairman of the Geology Professional Council, the governing body of ethical behavior and professional geologists in Colombia.

He has published over forty, articles and essays on mining issues in newspapers and magazines in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Ecuador. He contributed to the Colombian National Development Plan, Mining and the Pacific Rim, published by the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University in Bogota, linking the physicochemical analysis with marketing in the coal industry. ECLAC has published twenty-nine reports written by him related to the mining industry. He has been a university professor in Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Chile, and has provided technical assistance in fourteen countries of Central and South America. He was an honorary adviser to the Government of Canada and the World Bank in relation to the Small-Scale Mining Initiative.

Mathias Heider
Division Head Mining Development and Planning
Brazil National Department of Mineral Production

Mr. Heider is A Head of Division in the Directorate of Mining Development and Planning of the National Department of Mineral Production – DNPM in Brasilia. He graduated in 1985 as a mine engineer from the Federal University at the State of Minas Gerais –UFMG and holds post-graduation degrees in Mining Economics from Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina – UNISUL and Marketing from the João Pinheiro Foundation in the State of Minas Gerais. His topic will be "The Mining Scene in Brazil".

Christopher Gale
Managing Director
Latin Resources

Christopher (Chris) Gale is the Managing Director of Latin Resources, an Australian listed mineral exploration company with a specific focus on South America. Latin Resources was one of the very first Australian exploration companies in 2008 to develop a portfolio of high quality iron, copper and heavy mineral sands projects in one of world's premier mining jurisdictions, Peru.

Under Chris' stewardship, Latin Resources debuted on the ASX in September 2010 after a very successful and oversubscribed IPO, and has grown to become one of the most successful Australian exploration companies operating on the South American continent.

Chris' experience has been actively involved in promoting and developing start-up companies and building strong management teams with a focus on commercialisation. Chris has extensive experience in senior management roles in both the public and private sectors, especially in commercial and financial roles. He has held various board and executive roles at a number of global mining and technology companies during his career.

Chris is a founding director of Allegra Capital, a boutique corporate advisory firm based in Perth, and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD).

Dr Robert Brady
General Manager Subsea and Exploration
Petro Magallanes

Dr. Robert Brady has a broad range of experience in industry, government, and academic settings. He is currently General Manager of Exploration and Subsurface for Greymouth Petroleum and PetroMagallanes. Previously, he was Chief Geologist for Petrel Robertson Consulting Ltd. in Canada, and has worked for a number of Canadian-based exploration companies, typically in the field of International Exploration and New Ventures development.  Dr. Brady has also been a Professor of Structural Geology at the University of Calgary and California State University, Bakersfield.

Pedro Martinez
President
Peru National Association of Mining, Energy and Petroleum

Mr. Pedro Julio Martinez Carlevarino is:
• President of the National Society of Mining, Petroleum and Energy - SNMPE
• Director of the National Confederation of Private  Peruvian Business - CONFIEP
• Chairman of Corporation Pecsa, PECSACORP,
• Chairman of Natural Gas Peru SAC - PGN.
• Studied economics at the Catholic University of Peru,
• Between 1975 and 2005 he was Director and General Manager of several fuel companies in Lima,
• Between 1978 and 1980 he was Director of Fisheries Ship owners Society of Peru
• Between 1986 and 1993 he was President of the Association of Service Stations in Peru - AGESP,
• Between 1989 and 1992 he was Director of CONFIEP

Cristian Parra
Senior Fellow
Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining

Cristian Parra is an Economist of The Centre for Social Responsibility in Mining, The University of Queensland, specialising in corporate for social responsibility and in the analysis of socioeconomic development and progress in resources regions and heavy industry (17 years of experience). His work focuses on the development issues, supporting communication process and corporate affairs strategies, socioeconomic impact assessment of large scale projects including tax effects, linkage industry, employment, social corporate investment, effects on local and small communities and the analysis of macroeconomic effects.

Barry Dawes
Executive Chairman
Martin Place Securities

Barry Dawes' expertise in the Australian resources sector is based on his knowledge as a geologist combined with over 30 years' experience in the resources investment sector. Prior to founding Boutique Investment Firm "Martin Place Securities" in 2000, Barry had worked in senior executive roles of investment management with BT Australia, equities research for Bain Deutsche Bank and equities research and corporate finance for Macquarie Bank. He is currently a Director of a number of unlisted public operating companies. Barry has a substantial depth of knowledge and experience in the international resources industry and is well known for his views on the sector.