Natural Resources Forum

A highly assertive and results-oriented Talent Management professional with a passion for Performance Management and Inclusion and Diversity. I have broad experience in Talent Management workstreams – Talent Acquisition, Employee Onboarding, Performance Management, Leadership and Employee Development, and Succession Planning. 

Being a natural leader with an inherent need to succeed, I approach work with a strategic and continuous improvement mindset, positive and collaborative attitude that helps to influence others and at the same time drive results. I have appreciable leadership experience - able to build and maintain strong partnerships and effective working relationships with people at all levels. 

I am an effective communicator with strong facilitation and influencing skills. I am conscientious, maintaining high accuracy with attention to detail.

Chair of the Chapter Zero Board, Julie Baddeley has served on the boards of major organisations in the public and private sectors for more than 20 years. She is Remuneration Committee Chair at Ebiquity plc, Senior Independent Director of Marshall of Cambridge, Non-Executive Director at TI Fluid Systems PLC and was Chair of global recruitment company Harvey Nash plc. She is also Co-Director of the Hughes Hall Centre for Climate Change Engagement, at Cambridge University, where she spearheads the work to bring the insights from the University to the non-executive community.  

Before embarking on a portfolio career she was executive director at Woolwich plc, and has been on the boards of Greggs plc, The BOC Group, Yorkshire Building Society, lottery operator Camelot, Chrysalis VCT plc and the Department of Health.

Julie is leading a series of initiatives with investors, regulators, scientists and advisors to help chairs and non-executive directors recognise the challenge of climate change to their businesses, and their business’ impacts on the environment. Her background was in change management consulting with Accenture, and she sees delivering a zero carbon economy as the biggest change challenge for business in her lifetime.

Former Head of Closure, Rehabilitation and Asset Development Barrick Gold; Managed 100+ employees over 85 sites globally, including 5 Superfund sites in the USA. Managed annual budgets of over $80 million. Developed commercial partnerships and investment feasibility studies for redevelopment of 4 Superfund sites. Former Centar American Technical Services (Drilling and Exploration Services). International investment advisory in large-scale real estate developments. Designed and managed award-winning economic development program in Zimbabwe using US Government Title II food aid. US Peace Corps in Guatemala, agricultural diversification volunteer. Family history in large-scale commercial farming.  BA Economics, University of California, Riverside. ESG, Government and Community Relations, Water Management Rehabilitation.

Ms Bates is a commercial and strategic international lawyer with over 20 years’ experience advising management teams and boards of both listed and private companies in the UK and internationally. She is a risk assessment specialist and brings extensive experience of guiding clients in the natural resources sector through complex negotiations often with a cross-cultural element. Ms Bates is a member of Women in Mining UK. In accordance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, the board has determined that Ms Bates will be treated as an independent Non-Executive Director.

James has more than 15 years’ experience in mine water management worldwide.James' experience includes eight years in technical consulting roles and six years managing hydrogeological aspects of BHP’s operations in Australia. His experience encompasses water management projects in a broad range of hydrogeological settings and commodities around the world, both underground and open-pit. His specific areas of expertise include mine dewatering for inflows and stability, mine site surface water management, water balance modelling and surplus water management (including managed aquifer recharge), hydrogeological field investigations, water monitoring and impact assessments, and groundwater flow modelling.

At BHP, James led various operational and planning teams responsible for mine groundwater and surface water management, technical studies, regulatory engagement, and water risk and strategy. James was also involved in auditing water management risks across BHP Australia and incorporating them into a risk management framework as well as developing water management systems for BHP’s operations. He has published several papers on the topic of groundwater management and presented at various conferences. James speaks fluent English and Spanish.

Jonathan Blanchard Smith works in complex, multi-national and multi-cultural environments. With a background ranging from New York to the more remote parts of the Middle East, he has occupied C level roles in public and private corporations, as well as in the Third Sector in the UK. He brings effective and naturally empathic leadership to organisations whether as their Chairman or as a corporate troubleshooter.

Jonathan is past Chairman of the Reform Club, one of London's senior Clubs. He is a graduate of Manchester University and St Catharine's College, University of Cambridge‎.

Experienced global equity investor currently serving as board chair, non executive director and trustee. After 25 years of experience in stock picking and active engagement, I focus on emerging markets, multinational companies and sustainability. I provide independent advice and insights on capital markets strategy and ESG integration. Having completed the HBS Corporate Director Certificate, Shared Value course and CFA U.K. ESG program, I am increasing my scope of work as a corporate board director and charity trustee. Ask me about fundamental analysis incorporating ESG metrics, creating shared value, and active stewardship. I am passionate about helping companies and their leaders develop long term strategy and sustainable outcomes.

Dawn Brock joined International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) in 2017 and leads on the mine closure and water project work. She also works across other programme areas including tailings and community support.

ICMM is an international organisation that brings together 27 mining and metal companies and over 30 regional and commodities associations to strengthen environmental and social performance and enhance mining’s contribution to society.Dawn has a Master of Science degree in Environmental Science from Witwatersrand University, and also holds a Bachelor of Science Honours degree in Conservation and Biodiversity and a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Economics both from Rhodes University in South Africa.

Mr. Brown joined Seplat as Chief Financial Officer in 2013. With a background in finance, he is a qualified Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland and also a member of Association of National Accountants of Nigeria.

 Mr. Brown has over 25 years’ experience in the financial sector, primarily focused on emerging markets with extensive experience in structuring energy and infrastructure transactions on the African continent. Prior to joining the Company, he held the position of Managing Director of Oil and Gas EMEA for Standard Bank Group.

 Following Mr. Avuru's retirement, Mr. Brown was appointed CEO and assumed the role on the 1st August 2020.

Mr. Brown brings to Seplat extensive financial, accounting, M&A, debt and equity capital markets experience in the emerging markets space, and in particular the African oil and gas sector. He has advised on some of the largest and highest profile transactions that have occurred in Nigeria in recent years.

Alex Buck has over fifteen years of investor relations, corporate communications and crisis management experience in the mining industry. Alex started her career at Brunswick Group, the well-known global financial communications agency before joining the investor relations department at the global gold miner AngloGold Ashanti and then co-founding BuckBias, a specialist mining communications consultancy, whose clients included LionOre Mining, Aquarius Platinum and Mantra Resources. Most recently Head of Communications at Asanko Gold, Alex is currently heading up ESG and Corporate Communications at Endeavour Mining. She is also a Trustee of the award winning orchestra Arcangelo.

Alex is responsible for ESG investor communications and international public relations at Polyus, the London-listed largest Russian gold mining company. He is also actively involved in developing and implementing the company’s sustainability strategy as a mediator between external audiences and the company. Before joining Polyus, Alex was Director at FTI Consulting, advising major Russian and international companies on corporate and financial communications. Before that, he worked as a strategic consultant, international communications adviser and business journalist in Moscow and London.

Yulia Chekunaeva is Director of the Clean Growth Leadership Network.

In March 2021 Yulia graduated from Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program with her course personal case being “Climate change impact on business model in metals and mining”. She also holds an MSc from Warwick Business School (University of Warwick) in Economics and Finance. She completed her undergraduate studies at International College of Economics and Finance, which allowed her to graduate with two degrees: a BSc in Economics with honours from State University – Higher School of Economics, and a BSc in Banking and Finance from The London School of Economics and Political Sciences.

Ben Daly is based in Standard Chartered’s London Client Coverage team and is responsible for the Bank’s relationship with many of the world’s largest Metals & Mining and Oil & Gas clients. Ben joined Standard Chartered in 2015, having spent the first 6 years of his career as a corporate lawyer.

Marcelo has world wide recognition as an expeditionary, businessman and environmentalist. During his expeditions, Marcelo discovered situations of extreme poverty and deforestation in regions of highest biological diversity. He therefore decided to help bridge the gap between economic development and social / environmental wellness, harnessing financial and corporate know-how to the task of creating sustainable solutions for development of human kind's life quality. 

As a result, in 1985, he founded a non-profit sustainable development agency named Pro Natura as a contribution to solving these problems attacking its direct cause: the world's outdated model of economic development. Marcelo has won numerous awards world wide for his efforts. In his business life Marcelo co-founded Terra Capital in 1994, the first Venture Capital Fund dedicated to investing exclusively in private-sector biodiversity businesses. He has also been involved with Axial Bank, Eco Carbon, Ecoinvest and Social Capital Group.Marcelo graduated from the Gama Filho University Medical School as a Doctor of Medicine and represented Brasil for Rowing in the Olympic Games.

Ignacio de Calonje is Chief Investment Officer in IFC’s Infrastructure and Natural Resources Department. He is responsible for managing IFC's Western European based clients in the oil and gas sector. Prior to his posting in London, Ignacio was based in Istanbul, Cairo and Washington DC for IFC. During his nearly 13 years at IFC, Ignacio has worked on numerous equity and debt investments in the natural resources space in emerging markets. Before joining IFC, he worked for Lehman Brothers’ investment banking division (1997-2002) in London and Madrid advising Spanish and UK corporate clients in mergers, acquisitions and debt capital market transactions. Ignacio has a Bsc in Business Administration from Universidad San Pablo-CEU (Madrid) and a Masters Degree from Columbia University (New York).

Elaine Dorward-King is a non-executive director of Kenmare Resources plc, Great Lakes Dredge and Dock, Sibanye Stillwater plc, and NOVAGOLD. From 2013 to 2020, she served as the Executive Vice President of Sustainability and External Relations for Newmont Mining Corporation, where she led the development and implementation of strategy, policy, and standards across the company in environmental, social responsibility, community relations, external affairs, government relations, and communications areas. Prior to joining Newmont, Dr. Dorward-King served as Managing Director of Richards Bay Minerals in South Africa from December 2010 through February 2013. Dr. Dorward-King previously served as the Global Head of Health, Safety and Environment at Rio Tinto from 2002 through 2010 and also held leadership positions with Rio Tinto's copper and borates businesses. Prior to that, she worked for Ebasco Environmental and for Monsanto Company as a chemist, research specialist and product manager. Dr. Dorward-King brings twenty-eight years of leadership experience in developing and implementing sustainable development, safety, health and environmental strategy and programs in the mining, chemical and engineering consulting sectors. She holds a Bachelor of Science magna cum laude from Maryville College and a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from the Colorado State University. Dr. Dorward-King serves on the Board of non-profit organization Resources for the Future.

John provides a range of services on issues related to climate change and sustainable resource development since 2013. Clients over that time have included Energy and Extractives Global Practice, The World Bank Group; the International Council for Mining and Metals (ICMM - global SD platform for mining and metals); IPIECA (global SD platform for oil and gas sector); and the International Fertilizer Association (IFA).  

Prior to that, John worked for the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM) since January 2011 and was the Director of the Environment and Climate Change work program. John has worked on the issue of climate change for nearly 20 years. For the first 10 years, he worked for the government of Canada, where he developed their first national action program on climate change in 1994. In 1995, he moved into the international arena and took up the post of Associate Director on Climate Change. For the next six years he coordinated global negotiations for the Canadian government, focusing on the carbon market, including the Clean Development Mechanism, Joint Implementation and International Emissions Trading.

Iain is the Cross Border Head of the Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Group at Simmons & Simmons. He acts for Investment Funds and Corporates and is a leading practitioner in relation to mining & metals and power transactions.

He advises on M&A, projects, joint ventures and finance matters (including prepays, streams and royalties). Clients note that he “understands the mining industry as a whole very well.” whilst being “very tuned into mining and is very client-focused” (Chambers & Partners 2025). 

Iain spent six months on secondment at an Energy/Resources major.

He regularly speaks at international conferences in the Energy and Natural Resources sectors and sits on the Council of the London based society for the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Experience includes advising: British Lithium on its joint venture with Imerys to develop the UK’s largest lithium deposit (which will result in the UK’s first integrated producer of battery-grade lithium, with production targets to supply 500,000 electric cars per year); Orion Resource Partners on its joint venture with Fusion Capital, on the acquisition and financing of the SASA lead and zinc mine in Macedonia and its subsequent sale (by way of reverse takeover) to Central Asia Metals; Mantoverde on its $847m financing package, including $520m of senior debt and $275m equity funding and offtake with Mitsubishi Materials, for its copper and gold project in Chile; and Mainstream Renewable Power on its pan-African and Chilean joint ventures with funds including IFC, Rockefeller Brothers and Actis, and the sale of its interests in those JVs.

Marc is a recognised market leader and adviser on energy and infrastructure projects internationally. He has specific expertise in clean energy and sustainable infrastructure, and helping clients investing in new technologies and in new markets.Marc has a particular focus on working with clients on the opportunities and challenges arising from energy transition, decarbonisation and the drive for sustainability, all of which he is passionate about. He advises clients from all industry sectors on sourcing of clean energy, and meeting their sustainability objectives across the supply chain: this includes greenfield project development and finance, implementation of emerging technologies (such as hydrogen and CCUS), and secondary market transactions. Marc has a deep background in "first-in-kind" power, transport and other infrastructure projects throughout their lifecycle, from structuring to development, project financing and secondary market transactions. He provides expertise on all of the commercial and financing contracts required, provides strategic advice and works with clients with a view to the long-term success of an infrastructure project.

Neil Goodman is currently the Managing Director of Smelt Tech Consulting, a Perth based company providing consulting services to organisations having plans to develop iron ore downstream processing opportunities in Australia.

Before locating in Perth, Neil was involved in the design and commissioning of ironmaking plants in Europe, America and Asia for over 20 years for Davy McKee, based in Stockton in the UK. Following his initial relocation in Perth, Neil was the General Manager of Rio Tinto’s HIsmelt Corporation, responsible for the design and operation of the commercial scale HIsmelt plants in Western Australia and China.

In addition to its steelmaking consulting business, Smelt Tech has an agreement with the Chinese owners of the HIsmelt technology to licence the HIsmelt technology outside China.  Neil was recently appointed CEO of Appalachian Iron, a US based company that is currently developing a HIsmelt project in West Virginia.Neil graduated from Imperial College London, with a degree in Metallurgy, and was the recipient of the Charles Salter prize for excellence in metallurgy from the Royal School of Mines.

Katya Gorbatiouk has over 20 years of experience in international capital markets. She works at the London Stock Exchange in Primary Capital Markets, having recently taken on a new role as Head of Investment Funds.  From February 2022 Katya serves on the Best Practice Committee of the Investor Relations Society. She served on the judging panel for the IR Society 2021 Best Practice Awards in ESG Communications. Her article on the evolution of corporate communications was published in the 2021/22 issue of the IR Society Journal Informed.

Katya previously chaired the Board Effectiveness & Stakeholder Governance working group at the Institute of Directors’ Centre for Corporate Governance. She has co-authored an IoD publication on best practices of enacting a stakeholder-centric approach by corporate boards.  Katya has been a long-standing board member of organisations with high social impact, such as the Global Leaders Program (Washington DC), London Music Fund, London Symphony Orchestra and others.

Daria Grigorieva currently holds the position of Head of Sustainable Development at Polyus, the largest gold producer in Russia, one of the five largest gold mining companies in the world. Her responsibility is to ensure the sustainable development of the company through setting progressive goals, launching sustainable development projects, and managing reporting and disclosure. Her work focuses on the following areas of sustainable development - environmental protection, health and safety of employees, social and charitable programs, human rights and relations with stakeholders; and also on the implementation of international standards and improvement of management processes in the company. Daria represents Polyus in various professional associations such as the International Council for Mining and Metals (ICMM). The sustainable development projects she manages relate to climate change, cyanide management, biodiversity conservation, sustainable development risk assessment, and safety culture. She develops a sustainability communication system in the company for internal and external audiences.

Daria has 15 years of experience in sustainable development in Russia, Kazakhstan, Burkina Faso, and Guinea; the last 7 years of them - in the mining industry. She graduated from Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov holds a master's degree in cultural project management from the Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen and a Ph.D. in philosophy from the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Paul Gurney is a Managing Director at BMO Capital Markets in London, UK, covering BMO’s large institutional equity clients in Europe and Asia Pacific. Paul has 15 years of capital markets experience, researching companies, syndicating transactions, structuring deals, and providing value-added advice to institutional and corporate clients across multiple sectors. Paul is the sustainability champion for Europe, producing a weekly sales ESG note and engaging clients on investments in ESG opportunities. He has an MBA from the University of Toronto and graduated with honours from the University of Western Ontario with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Danielle works closely with the Practice Leader to service and develop Granger Reis’ clients within the mining sector. She also ensures assignments are delivered successfully to achieve proven results for our clients. Within the team she specialises in the junior mining industry, specifically working across a number of different functions including Operations, Technical, Asset, Projects and Strategic Leadership.

Prior to joining Granger Reis, Danielle worked at a Commercial Property Consultancy Firm as an Investment Surveyor.

She has a First Class Honours degree in Property Investment and Management from the University of the West of England.

Simon spent 35 years in an executive career with Royal Dutch Shell plc.  He became Chief Financial Officer and a member of the Board of Royal Dutch Shell plc on May 1, 2009. In addition to responsibility for all financial activities of the company, he was responsible for Strategy, Planning and Information Technology, and acted as Regional Executive Director for Asia Pacific with specific oversight of new business development in China.  Since retiring as CFO and Executive Director in March 2017, he has developed a portfolio of non-executive and advisory roles, in both the public and private sector. He has a particular interest in strategy, financial performance, risk management and corporate governance.

Simon is a Non Executive Director and Chair of the Audit Committee at Rio Tinto. He is an Independent Director and member of the Investment and Development Committee of PetroChina. He joined the Board at Lloyds Banking Group in 2014 and chaired the Audit Committee for 3 years before resigning from the Board at the end of September 2020. In April 2021, Simon became Senior Independent Director of Harbour Energy plc, on completion of the reverse takeover and re-listing of Premier Oil plc.  He was a member of the UK Defence Board from 2018 to 2022.

In addition, Simon was a member of the Main Committee of the 100 Group of UK FTSE CFOs and Chair of the European Round Table CFO Taskforce, and remains a member of the Advisory Board of the Centre for European Reform, a UK based think tank. He is a Fellow and member of the Advisory Panel of CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants), and a Trustee of the Cambridge China Development Trust.

Ken Hoffman is a Senior Expert for McKinsey’s Basic Materials Institute (BMI).  He Co- leads the Firm’s EV Battery Material Research Group. He has co-written articles on nickel in EV’s, and a cobalt and lithium paper. Prior to McKinsey, Ken was the global head of metals and mining research for Bloomberg Intelligence. Mr. Hoffman began his career at Prudential Securities, covering base and precious metals as well as the global steel industry, and headed Prudential's global steel research team for five years.  Mr. Hoffman has been widely sought after for his engaging talks about industry trends, speaking at the MB EV battery materials conference, Lithium Supply Conference, China Mining Congress for the past 4 years, Natural Resources Forum. He is a regular speaker on Bloomberg TV, Kitco, and BNN Canada.

A CFA charter holder, Mr. Hoffman holds a BS in finance from Syracuse University and an MBA from Duke University.

Tom worked as an energy journalist for a decade before joining Mining Journal as editor in October 2019. In his previous role as managing editor at Interfax Energy, he led a team of journalists providing news and analysis of the global gas industry. Before that he worked as a reporter covering European energy markets. Journalism is not Tom's first career: he previously worked as a strategist for a media agency.

Laura Hurst is a journalist with 10 years experience covering the oil and gas industry. She currently focuses Big Oil and the energy transition and has previously covered OPEC as well as crude oil markets. Prior to Bloomberg she was a price reporter at Argus Media. Laura has a degree in Russian and Politics from the University of Glasgow and a masters in Russian Literature from the University of Oxford.

David or Sam Hutchins is a former fund manager with over 30 years' experience in the natural resource sector, having managed some of the largest specialised gold and commodity related funds during his career.   Currently he is Chairman of the FTSE Gold Mines Index Committee and a non-executive director of AIM listed resource companies, Oracle Power plc and Wishbone Gold plc.

After graduating from Newcastle University in 1997, Charlie knew that he wanted a career with exposure to the fast-moving worlds of equity and debt capital markets, the financial media and the business sector.  He quickly settled on strategic financial communications.  Over 20 years later, his passion for these areas of commerce remains undimmed. Charlie leads the Natural Resources practice, and is a day to day advisor to large, mid-market and growth companies in the resources and energy sector. The practice supports a number of energy companies both in production and exploration development phases. With extensive media relationships and a deep understanding of the vital IR and ESG issues to address, Charlie has significant experience in creating communication strategies to help clients achieve appropriate valuations for their assets, equity and debt.  He has advised on a number of high profile transactions including the $8.9bn IPO of Polyus, Uralkali’s $500mn eurobond and the re-admission of En+ to trading on the LSE.

Jonny Oates has been a member of House of Lords since October 2015 where he speaks frequently on the climate emergency and energy. He takes a particular interest in sustainable finance and is a vice chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Renewable and Sustainable Energy and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Net Zero. He is a Commissioner for the UK Hydrogen Policy Commission.

From 2017-2019 he was Senior Adviser to the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, a charitable foundation working principally in Africa and South Asia.

During the Coalition Government, he was Deputy Director of Communications in 10 Downing Street and Chief of Staff to the Deputy Prime Minister. In the late 1990’s Jonny worked in South Africa’s first democratic parliament on a project to support political parties previously excluded from parliament under the apartheid regime. In 1988 he taught in - and helped establish - a new rural secondary school in Zimbabwe.

Jonny is Co-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Groups on Africa, South Africa and Zimbabwe and a Trustee of The World Reimagined, an educational and public arts project to raise awareness of the impacts of transatlantic slave trade.

His memoir, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, which reflects on his journey to Ethiopia aged 15, was first published in October 2020 and issued in paperback in August 2022.

Olga Kalashnikova, Head of Environment to lead the Company’s strategy to reduce its carbon footprint and meet the climate challenge.Olga Kalashnikova, who was previously responsible for Upstream environmental performance at Shell Russia. 

Ms Kalashnikova has more than 20 years’ experience working with blue chip international companies to improve their environmental performance. During more than 10 years at Royal Dutch Shell she was responsible for ensuring best environmental practices were maintained at the group’s joint ventures in Russia, as well as for developing and running strategies to address local environmental issues, including those related to biodiversity, environmentally sensitive areas, managing greenhouse gas emissions and energy efficiency.

Rupert Krefting is Head of Corporate Finance and Stewardship. Rupert qualified as a chartered accountant then worked in investment banking for more than two decades, before joining M&G over 5 years ago in 2016. Rupert leads our climate engagement programme and externally represents M&G with the following associations :

Member of the Investment Association’s Stewardship Committee and Chairs the Corporate Reporting and Audit Group;

Institutional Investors for Global Climate change (IIGCC) – sits on the Corporate Programme Advisory Group and Net Zero Stewardship Group;

Climate Action 100+ - co-lead on BASF and Rio Tinto; Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA); International Corporate Governance Network (ICGN)- chairs the Natural Capital Committee

Alexander is passionate about energy and technology, and transitioned from fossil fuels to new energy. He joined the Board of the Mobility House in 2011 as an early investor. He is also a shareholder and Director of Lambert Energy Advisory (UK). Until 2020, he was Chairman of energy company SUEK (Russia) and fertilizer producer EuroChem Group (Switzerland), helping both to grow into top-5 international blue chips in their industries. Earlier, he was Board Member at Barloworld (South Africa), and co-founded C-level mentoring firm Bernotat & Cie (Germany). Before that, he was Global Gas Lead Partner at Accenture and Head of Oil & Gas Debt at Dresdner Kleinwort.

Michelle Lawrence is the Chief Operating Officer of Kropz, an emerging African phosphate explorer and developer. She is responsible for ensuring the operational and financial initiatives of the Company are integrated with the execution of the overall business strategy.

Michelle joined Kropz in 2014 and has been instrumental in ensuring that socially and environmentally responsible design decisions have been taken throughout the design processes for the Company’s projects. 

Michelle has almost 20 years of experience in mining and minerals processing. Prior to joining Kropz, she held various roles in the mining industry including Operations Manager at Impala Platinum Ltd, Design Engineer at DRA Global Ltd and Ausenco Ltd and a Minerals Analyst at Qinisele Resources. 

Michelle holds an Honours Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cape Town.

Claire Lawrie is Head of Energy for the Corporate Finance and Business Transformation team in Europe, Middle East and Africa. The Energy team covers services across the value chains in oil, gas, power, renewables and new energy technologies, such as mobility and hydrogen.

Claire has over 20 years of energy consulting experience. She has served various energy organisations such as global integrated energy companies, independents, national energy companies and government energy entities. She is experienced in living and working globally for energy clients in North America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

James Lea-Cox is a senior environmental advisor at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD. He advises private and public sector clients to effectively identify, mitigate and manage environmental and social (E&S) risks associated with complex projects in the natural resources, energy and sustainable infrastructure sectors. Prior to joining the EBRD, he worked as an E&S consultant advising on major capital mining and oil and gas projects.

Paola heads the Debt Capital Markets group in the Milan office of Simmons and Simmons. She has 20 years of experience in advising Italian and international clients, corporate, financial institutions and banks, sovereign and supranational entities, on securities transactions and regulatory matters related to debt issuances with a particular focus on debuts, and first-of-its-kind transactions. This has led her to advise numerous Italian issuers on their debuts on the Eurobond market as well as on the Italian retail market, on several pilot deals such as recently the first green bond issued by FS, the first Project Bond issued by an Italian Company as well as the first and only Neutral non-dilutive Equity Linked issued in Italy. Paola is an expert in green and sustainable finance, environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues. Paola is ranked as “Hall of Fame” by The Legal 500 and “Market Leader” by IFLR1000 with clients stating she is a “Senior partner with an outstanding legal background, impressive experience and a sound commercial attitude, with flexibility and ability to find solutions to complicated legal issues with a prompt, innovative approach." Chambers Europe 2021.

Estelle Levin-Nally is CEO of Levin Sources, which she founded as a catalyst to build sustainable, valuable and equitable minerals sectors. Estelle is an internationally recognised leader in the nexus of human rights, minerals and nature, advocating for and advancing sector commitments and activities that can realise more sustainable production and sourcing systems for marginal producers in fragile environments, especially in the worlds of artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) and forest-smart mining (FSM). She serves on diverse boards and committees that are advancing the ESG agenda in minerals, including as convenor of the Human Rights and Child Labour Working Group of the Global Battery Alliance’s Battery Passport. Estelle was named one of the 100 global influential women in mining in 2020, by WIM UK. #48 Top 100 Modern Slavery Influencers 2018; #15 Top 100 Conflict Minerals Influencers 2017.

John MacKenzie occupies the position of Executive Chairman and Founder at Mantos Copper SA. Mr. MacKenzie is also on the board of Mantoverde.

In his past career Mr. MacKenzie was Chief Executive Officer-Copper at Anglo American Plc.

He received an undergraduate degree and a graduate degree in mining engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand and a graduate degree in business from the University of South Africa.

Peter Marrone is the Executive Chairman of Yamana Gold Inc., which he founded in 2003. He has more than 35 years of mining, business, and capital markets experience. He has been on the boards of a number of public companies and has advised companies with a strong South American and North American presence. Prior to Yamana, Mr. Marrone was the head of investment banking at a major Canadian investment bank and before that practiced law in Toronto with a strong focus on corporate law, securities law and international transactions.

Alfons is an Executive Director in Goldman Sachs’ Investment Banking Division. Based in London, he specializes in Financing & Risk Management for Southern European Corporates. In his capacity, he has been an integral part of the structuring and execution of multiple Sustainability-Linked Bonds in the European and US fixed income markets, including the first-of-its-kind from Enel in 2019 – and all subsequent issuances in this format from the Italian utility.

Moreover, Alfons has executed the first issuances of the Oil & Gas sector, issued by Eni and Repsol, both in June 2021. Additional transaction experience includes green, transition, climate action, and social bonds for Corporate and Public borrowers.

Prior to joining Goldman Sachs in 2018, Alfons worked at Deutsche Bank from 2014 based in Madrid and London. Alfons earned a Bachelor in Business Administration from ESADE Business School in Barcelona.

John has over 20 years' experience in Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) in the mining sector.John has spent most of his career working with a number of the major mining companies, developing social and environmental management programmes for operating mines and advanced exploration projects. John has also managed the impact assessment and permitting processes for two large scale projects through the detailed feasibility stage. More recently John has managed the delivery of an EIA for a gold project in Europe working closely with the client legal team and planning advisors to meet EU requirements.  He has also worked on a number of short-term due diligence projects and resource and reserve audits. John also worked on the scoping and implementation of a mine closure in southern Africa, working with an engineering team responsible for removal of infrastructure and overseeing the stabilisation and rehabilitation plans. John has worked on projects covering a number of different commodities including, iron ore, gold, copper, diamonds, and coal. His areas of expertise include; project management; project design; health, safety, and environment; community development strategies, stakeholder engagement, and government interface.

Andy is an established entrepreneur and investor operating in junior public markets since 2007. In 2016, he founded and brought Spinnaker Opportunities Plc to the London Stock Exchange as a cash shell, in a transaction analogous to the proposed listing of Spinnaker Acquisitions Plc. Through vision, patience and determination, Andy led Spinnaker Opportunities Plc into the pioneering reverse take-over of a medicinal cannabis business to form Kanabo Group Plc. The transaction completed in February 2021, achieving multiple returns for fellow investors.

Between 2007 and 2016, Andy learned his trade as hired Chief Executive and/or Board adviser to mostly natural resources companies including Xtract Energy Plc, Silvermere Energy Plc, Zeta Petroleum Plc, Highlands Natural Resources Ltd (now Zoetic International Plc) and Zenith Energy Ltd.

For the first 17 years of his career, Andy worked for Shell in a variety of positions in oil products trading, shipping, marketing and business development. His work in marketing and business development included new market entries in South America and China. In 1999, Andy joined BG Group Plc as a New Ventures Director where he led the creation of a corporate venture to exploit BG's UK land estate to create an infrastructure business targeting the mobile telecoms sector. In 2005 he joined industrial gases group BOC Group Plc as Group Director of New Business Development, leaving upon its acquisition in 2007.

Andy has a BSc (1st Class) in Chemical Engineering and Fuel Technology from the University of Sheffield, a Diploma in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors, and has published several articles in the fields of innovation, venturing and strategic business development.

Ms. Puruvi graduated from the University of Manchester with a BSc in Material Science and Engineering. She has experience and understanding of the graphite industry and processing with exposure to the sector and has done pre-feasibility studies on graphite projects. She has participated in multiple graphite and graphene conferences, learnt about the capital markets and corporate development. Ms. Puruvi has worked on graphene composites, processing and applications as part of her course and is further working with the company for its graphene projects.

Matthew Powell is a Vice President on the BeyondNetZero team and will serve as the Head of ESG & Reporting for the venture. Before joining BeyondNetZero, Powell was the Chief of Staff to Lord Browne of Madingley at L1 Energy. Founded in 2021, BeyondNetZero is a climate investment venture in partnership with General Atlantic. It will target growth equity investments that have the potential to meet and exceed Net Zero targets.

Brian joined BMO Capital Markets Equity Research as a precious metals analystin 2012. Brian has nearly two decades of experience in metallurgical engineering. Prior to joining BMO, he was an equity analyst with another Canadian bank- owned dealer. In 2011 and 2016, Brian was ranked a top gun analyst for precious metals & diamonds - small/mid cap in the Brendan Wood International Survey.Brian is a licensed professional engineer (Ontario) and holds a JD/MBA from Osgoode Hall Law School and the Schulich School of Business at York University, as well as an undergraduate degree in metallurgical engineering from the University of South Australia.

Michael Rawlinson has over 25 years experience in mining finance as research analyst, corporate financier, investor and Non-Executive Director. He was the Global Co-Head of Mining and Metals at Barclays investment bank between 2013 and 2017 having joined from the boutique investment bank, Liberum Capital, a business he helped found in 2007. Prior to that he was a Partner at Cazenove and MD at JP Morgan Cazenove.

He is currently Chairman of Balkan mining development company Adriatic Metals plc, a Senior Independent Non-Executive Director at precious metals producer Hochschild Mining and Independent Non-Executive Director at African mining services provider Capital Limited.

Yasmin Raza is a Technical Specialist in Sustainable Finance at the Financial Conduct Authority. She has experience across financial regulation, consultancy and central government. 

Yasmin is an experienced financial services policy professional, passionate about delivering a sustainable financial system that serves people and planet. She represents the UK FCA on various global standard setting bodies, including the IOSCO Sustainable Finance Task Force, and International Platform for Sustainable Finance. She is a member of the Oxford University Sustainable Finance course alumni, and holds expertise in topics such as ESG data & ratings, greenwashing, green FinTech, climate risk, stranded assets, and TCFD disclosures.

Katherine has over 20 years of senior corporate and capital markets experience. Having worked as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Wentworth following her role as Vice President Corporate Development & Investor Relations in 2014, Katherine was appointed as CEO in January 2020. Prior to Wentworth, Katherine spent 11 years at Panmure Gordon & Co having moved from Morgan Stanley’s investment banking division. As well as CEO of Wentworth, Katherine is Independent Non-Executive Director of ITM Power PLC and Longboat Energy PLC. Katherine is a member of both the Nominations Committee and the Sustainability Committee.

Mark Selby is a founding shareholder of Canada Nickel Company and has served as Chair and Chief Executive Officer, since its inception in September 2019.  Canada Nickel is focused on delivering the next generation of nickel supply through large-scale, low-cost, net zero production that adheres to the highest standards of environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices. Canada Nickel is expected to play a pivotal role in helping European and North American nickel consumers achieve their global decarbonization objectives by rapidly advancing its large tonnage Crawford nickel sulphide discovery in Timmins, Canada, to deliver NetZero Nickel^TM, NetZero Cobalt^TM and NetZero Iron^TM.  In 2001, Mr. Selby joined Inco Limited where he held senior management roles and is recognized as one of the leading authorities on the nickel market.  During the last decade, Mr. Selby led RNC Minerals and the development of the construction-ready Dumont nickel project.  Over the course of his career, he has held executive management and board positions with a number of senior and junior mining companies.

Mr. Rob Simmons is a Head-Corporate Development at Ferrexpo Plc. Mr. Simmons was previously employed as a Head-Business Development & Investor Relations by Avocet Mining Plc. He received his graduate degree from the University of Oxford.

Kate is General Counsel for Pala, with responsibility over all legal, regulatory and transactional matters relating to Pala’s investment activities.

Kate also provides legal, commercial and strategic advice to Pala’s portfolio companies, including Nevada Copper (TSX:NCU) and Sienna Metals, a private cobalt vehicle. Kate specializes in the management of international M&A and joint ventures, and the negotiation of complex construction and commercial contracts. Kate is a director of Nevada Copper and of Kasbah Resources Ltd, the 75% owner of the Achmmach tin project in Morocco. 

Kate manages legal due diligence for Pala on new opportunities and advises on alternative finance structures, including streams, royalties and mezzanine finance. She has also worked closely on a number of Pala’s divestments, including Dumas Mining and Asian Mineral Resources, acting as NED for both companies. 

Kate is a regular speaker on M&A, ESG and corporate governance at industry events, and is passionate about improving diversity, sustainability and compliance in the mining sector. Kate is admitted to the NY Bar, is a qualified solicitor in England & Wales, and holds the CFA Certificate in ESG Investing.

Nick is the Head of Climate Solutions at LGIM. Previously, he was Head of Commodity Research. Nick joined in 2013 as a Fund Manager in LGIM’s Global Equity team, focused on energy and natural resources. Prior to joining LGIM he was an Investment Director for Developed Asia and Global Emerging Markets at Standard Life Investments. He previously worked for an emerging market focused hedge fund investing in equities, convertible bonds and distressed debt. He has also worked in a corporate advisory role and as a software developer. Nick has a law degree (LLB) and a Master’s in jurisprudence (MJur), focused on securities law, from the University of Durham.

Jamie Strauss is the founder and CEO of Digbee, a data and research platform for the mining industry.  Having raised over a $1bn for development stage mining companies over the last 20 years, he wanted to find a solution to the complex and longwinded economic studies that contain the capability to mitigate risk but are so often misunderstood or worse, misused. The demand for quality, independent analysis of technical considerations is rapidly increasing with the dominance of private equity and strategic investors, Digbee provides the only efficient and cost effective solution for the industry.  Jamie is also a Non Executive Director of Altius Minerals, Bacanora Lithium and Gold Standard Ventures. He is also a trustee of The Julian Baring Scholarship which has funded, alongside its co-funding partners, over 100 scholarships to deserving students wanting to study mining related degrees at Southern African Universities.

Ms Tchedaeva joined Polymetal in 2011 as Company Secretary prior to its IPO on London Stock Exchange. Her expertise includes structuring, implementing and supervising the best corporate governance practices, including compliance with the UK Corporate Governance Code, Bribery Act, Listing Rules, etc. Ms Tchedaeva is a graduate of London Business School (MSc in Finance) and Moscow State Linguistic University (Diploma in Linguistics). She is a Fellow of ICSA: The Governance Institute.

Julian joined the Group as Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director on 21 October 2013. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Harvard University. He began his career working for Lord Rothschild as an in-house corporate financier, managing a portfolio of public and private equity investments before co-founding Active Value Advisors Ltd. to invest in undervalued, predominantly UK-listed companies, where he advised on more than US$900.0m of funds over a 12-year period. He currently serves as Non-Executive Chairman of Audley Capital Advisors LLP, an investment advisory firm, which he co-founded in 2005, which specialises in managing value-orientated, special situations investment strategies through hedge fund and co-investment vehicles, with a principal focus on the natural resources sector. Mr. Treger holds non-executive directorships with Mantos Copper S.A., EBT Digital Communications Retail Group, Broadwell Capital and Ilari Exploration.

Dr Dion Vaughan has a 30-year career embracing leadership and senior roles in Metals & Mining. He has a particular focus in the development and financing of clean metals processing technologies. His major interest currently is in helping supply-chain players in the Steel and Iron Ore sectors transition to net zero carbon emission standards. 

He is a PhD Metallurgist by training. His professional experience has embraced technology, business and corporate finance development at BP Research, Johnson Matthey Metals, Sheffield Forgemasters Group and Robert Fleming & JP Morgan. He has undertaken significant work for UK Government in terms of innovation policy in the fields of metals and materials innovation. He was previously CEO at Metal Processing start-up Metalysis and is currently a Senior Adviser at HCF International.

Stina re-joined Oxford Analytica at the start of 2020 following three years at a London-based advisory firm. Before this, she spent over seven years with Oxford Analytica’s Advisory team, working primarily with clients in the energy sector.

Stina is passionate about sustainability issues and corporate social responsibility. Engagements at Oxford Analytica include: identifying macro trends for a global retail firm with a particular focus on sustainable development; providing an outlook for sustainable trade for a large European bank; assisting a leading energy company with its strategy and planning for external engagement related to shale gas; providing an energy trend monitoring service to a European utilities company; and advising a European government on how to realise the growth potential of a ‘green economy’.She holds an MA in International Relations from King’s College London.

David has 30 years' experience working on environmental issues in the Natural Resources sector.  A geologist by background, he has been working on project development, operations and closure throughout the world since the early 1990s.  He has worked in consultancy, risk advisory, and for the past 10 years in the Environment and Sustainability Department within the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) where he is currently Head of Operations.  Specialising now in the Environmental and Social risks associated with the development of metalliferous deposits his work includes risk assessment and management, the development of ESG within client management structure and the design of reporting mechanisms.

Denise is Chief Executive of the Government sponsored Hampton-Alexander Review, formerly the Davies Review for Women on Boards, which leads the national, business-focused task force and voluntary framework for increasing the number of women on FTSE 350 Boards and in leadership positions.

She has recently stepped down from the Board of Ecclesiastical Insurance Group where she served for eight years, chaired the Remuneration Committee and sat on the Audit Committee. She also chaired the Royal Academy of Arts Friends Board for many years and has served on several corporate and charitable boards.

Her executive career began with the Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance Group, before moving into the energy sector where she held senior roles at British Gas and in successor companies, BG Group and Transco post-demerger.

During this time she headed up the Investor Relations and Global Audit functions and at National Grid set up and ran the Shared Services Division, led Commercial, Pricing and Customer Divisions and the Global Transformation program to standardize systems, processes and workplace culture across UK and US operations. She has worked not only in the US but also South America in various energy industry roles.

Denise is also a mentor to business leaders in the corporate and charitable sectors, an influential speaker and advocate for the advancement of diversity in business.

She is a graduate in Modern Languages, qualified FCII and speaks fluent Spanish. Denise was awarded an OBE in the 2016 New Year’s Honours list for services to women and equality and an honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Hull in 2018.

Mr. Wray was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, effective May 1, 2019 and a Director of the Company October 2, 2018. Previously, Mr. Wray was the Chief Executive Officer of the La Mancha Group, one of the largest direct investors in the gold mining sector. Prior to that, he was Chief Financial Officer of Acacia Mining Plc, a UK listed company and one of the largest African gold producers. He also has significant experience advising companies in capital-raising activities and other strategic objectives in a range of sectors, including mining, from his time in the Corporate Finance team at JP Morgan Cazenove. He is a fluent Spanish speaker and spent several years at the Kuwait Investment Office in London dealing with its portfolio of investments in Spain. He holds an Honours Degree from University College London as well as postgraduate studies in Finance and Investment from South Bank University Business School.

Jed is a water manager and hydrogeologist with 20 years’ experience.  In his role as Water Stewardship Practice Lead Jed is responsible for helping BHP to protect and share water resources whilst managing water effectively.  He has led the mine water planning teams of BHP Iron Ore, BHP Coal, FMG Chichesters and consulting firms, and has worked across a range of hydrological settings and challenges.  Jed has worked widely throughout Australia, has lived and worked in South America, and has operated in Asia and the US.

Vladimir joined Severstal as head of investor relations in 2010. Previously he was head of communications at a Scandinavian private equity fund called Mint Capital. Since 2010 Vladimir has strongly modernized the investor relations function of Severstal to increase transparency, reposition the company’s investment profile, as a result raising investor and professional community recognition. In December 2015, he was promoted to the role of head of communications and IR to cover also PR and Internal Communications. Together with the Corporate Social Responsibility and GR departments, his department is deeply involved in the development and implementation of the total reputation management program of Severstal. Vladimir is also a member of the Moscow Stock Exchange’s Committee of Issuers since 2014.

www.simmons-simmons.com

www.srk.com/en

highgatecapital.com

www.londonstockexchange.com

www.preformedwindings.com

www.yamana.com/home/default.aspx

www.wentplc.com

capitalmarkets.bmo.com/en/

www.bunkerhillmining.com

www.hudsonsandler.com

tirupatigraphite.co.uk

www.womeninmining.org.uk/

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All eyes on climate change, human capital and stakeholder capitalism

Key Performance Indicators for ESG initiatives, How to measure the value of ESG Reporting, ESG Disclosure Trends, Standardising ESG reporting