Advisory Council

Rafael is a partner of Carey and co-head of the firm’s Natural Resources and Environment Group. His practice focuses on natural resources, mining, water rights, energy, environment, surface lands, project financing, and corporate and commercial law. Since 1996, Mr. Vergara has been a professor of Mining Law at the Universidad de Chile and from 2003 at the Universidad de Los Andes. He has been recognized as a leading lawyer in Mining and Environment by several international publications such as Chambers and Partners, Who’s Who Legal, Legal 500, and Latin Lawyer, among others. Rafael graduated from Universidad de Chile.

Jeffery Snow currently acts as a Consultant to IAMGOLD after retiring from his position there as Senior Vice President Business Development and General Counsel.

Jeff’s academic credentials include a business degree from Queen’s University (Kingston, Ontario) and a law degree from Western University, in London Ontario.

In his 39 years in the mining industry, Jeff has also been Senior Vice-President & General Counsel for Noranda/Falconbridge, President and CEO of a mid-tier gold company, General Manager of a world class metallurgical facility, and Managing Director of a Mining Group at a Canadian national law firm. Jeff has also served on the Board of a number of public mining companies and has done extensive work in the area of Corporate Governance. Jeff has led legal teams at a number of international mining companies and has worked on major acquisitions/dispositions, financings, class action litigation and international joint ventures in over 40 countries.

Peter Wright is legal counsel to the Copper and Zinc business units of Glencore Canada Corporation. Prior to joining Glencore, Peter worked at law firms in New York, and later Toronto, advising clients in the extractive resource sector. Peter holds common and civil law degrees from McGill University Faculty of Law (2004).

Yves is a French qualified lawyer and a partner in Simmons & Simmons’ Paris office Energy and Infrastructure team. He specialises in advising international corporate clients on complex mining, power, water and infrastructure projects in France and internationally, with a particular focus on mining in Africa.

For more than 12 years Yves has been advising sponsors and financial institutions on all stages of the development of mining projects and related infrastructure (power, rail, port) with particular focus on Francophone Africa. He also regularly works on the drafting of mining and oil regulations. He has for example advised First Quantum Minerals, listed on the London Stock Exchange and on the Toronto Stock Exchange, on their mining projects in the DRC and Mauritania, and the sponsor of a major bauxite mine/alumina refinery project in Guinea on all aspects of the project including rail and port infrastructure.

Yves is one of the co-heads of Simmons & Simmons’ African initiative. He regularly speaks at energy and natural resources conferences in France and internationally and lectures international contract law at University of Poitiers.

Julie practises in the areas of public affairs, OHADA law & mining law. She joined La Mancha / Endeavour Mining in 2014. Over the last 5 years, she has developed legal expertise on mining issues. Julie was previously based in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire since 2016. She advices and brings support to all departments of the Endeavour Mining Group, from exploration to operations, including projects, finance, tax, CSR and public affairs throughout the West Africa Region, covering 6 mining operations spanning 3 countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali). She specializes in negotiations with the West African States (mining conventions, commercial agreements, tax and customs negotiations) as well as M&A and Corporate work.

Julie holds the French bar exam.

Jay Kellerman is a partner and Head of the Mining Group at Stikeman Elliott. He is also a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Capital Markets Groups, and served as the Managing Partner of the firm’s Toronto office from 2012 to 2018. With more than 30 years of experience, Jay is widely recognised by market sources as a leading practitioner in his field. He is consistently sought out by senior management of companies, boards and investors for not only transactional assistance, but to advise on strategic direction and growth.

Jay has earned significant praise for his seasoned practice and deep technical knowledge. He is recognised as one of the top mining lawyers in the world by market commentators and directories including Who’s Who Legal, as a Noble Practitioner Capital Markets: Equity and M&A by International Financial Law Review’s IFLR1000: The Guide to the World’s Leading Financial Law Firms 2020, and as a leading lawyer in Corporate Finance and Securities, Corporate Commercial, M&A and Mining by The Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory 2020, among many others.

Lizelle has extensive experience working in multi-cultural environments throughout the African continent, including South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania, Namibia, DRC, Guinea, Mali and Gabon. She holds various board positions and was responsible for establishing legal services throughout the Continental Africa Region covering 9 mining operations spanning five countries. She has amassed diversified experience in corporate transactions, government negotiations, international arbitrations and driving legislative changes in various jurisdictions.

Prior to joining AngloGold Ashanti Lizelle worked for Bowmans in Johannesburg and for Herbert Smith in London.

Hiba is the Chief Legal Officer (International Perimeter) at Eurasian Resources Group (ERG). She is an international project (mining, oil & gas) and transaction (M&A, JV, investment in African countries) lawyer.  Before joining ERG in 2015, she was an in-house counsel at Glencore and has practiced as a lawyer in Paris, France in the mining & project departments of a number of international law firms.

She holds a law degree from the French section of the Lebanese University, a Master’s Degree and a PhD in Business Law from the Sorbonne University and is admitted to the Paris Bar. She is fluent in English, French and Arabic.

Alice England has over 15 years’ experience in the natural resources sector and a detailed understanding of the legal terms and structures of royalty and streams.

Prior to her current role Alice was Head of Governance for BHP. She began her legal career at Herbert Smith Freehills. She qualified as a lawyer at Dentons and during that time worked in the Middle East on hydropower and carbon capture storage projects. Subsequently Alice worked as a senior legal and commercial adviser at a FTSE 250 oil and gas company, where she provided advice on a wide range of transactional and operational matters with a particular focus on corporate M&A, fundraising, acquisitions and disposals, corporate governance and dispute resolution. She has a BA(Hons) in English Literature and Diploma in Law from Exeter University and Legal Practice Certificate from Oxford University, College of Law.

Julien Naginski is the Chief Legal Officer at Sedibelo Resources Limited, a position he has held since April 2022. He is admitted to the bar in New York, England & Wales, and Paris.

Julien holds law degrees from Cornell Law School, Kings College London, and The Fletcher School of Law & Diplomacy and an undergraduate degree from Columbia University. Julien has over 25 years’ experience in mining transactions, capital markets, and financing and commercial contracts in Africa, Europe, North America and Asia.

Dietmar W. Prager is a litigation partner in Debevoise & Plimpton LLP’s New York office, who focuses his practice on international arbitration. He co-leads the firm’s Latin America Practice Group.

Dr. Prager has represented mining companies and other parties in numerous arbitrations under the auspices of the ICC, ICSID, LCIA, AAA, ICDR and the PCA, as well as in ad hoc arbitration proceedings.  His recent representations include disputes involving mining projects, complex infrastructure projects, shareholder disputes, investment treaties, oil & gas projects, energy projects, the retail sector, the finance sector, sovereign debt and distribution agreements. Dr. Prager also regularly sits as an arbitrator.

Dr. Prager is ranked among the leading international arbitration practitioners by Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Chambers Latin America, Chambers Brazil, The Legal 500 US, The Legal 500 Latin America, Benchmark Litigation, The Lawdragon Global Litigation 500 and Who’s Who Legal.

Dr. Prager is a member of the Advisory Council of the World Association of Mining Lawyers (WAOML).  He is the Senior Vice Chair of the International Bar Association’s Arbitration Committee, a member of the KCAB International Arbitration Committee and a member of the Board of the Vienna International Arbitration Centre (VIAC). He also serves as a member of the Vance Center Committee, the governing body of the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice. He is a former member and Vice Chair of the Executive Committee of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA) and former co-chair of the IBA Subcommittee on International Arbitration Case Law.

Dr. Prager is a member of the bar of New York.  He speaks English, German, Spanish and French and is proficient in Portuguese.

Karen is Lawson Lundell LLP’s Deputy Managing Partner and Chair of its Executive Committee, as well as Co-Leader of the firm’s Global Mining Group. Karen has practiced law for 26 years and focuses on mining and energy law with an emphasis on commercial arrangements in the mining sector, including asset-level acquisitions and dispositions, earn-in, option and joint venture arrangements, royalty agreements, procurement, construction and engineering agreements, and other strategic ownership arrangements.

Karen is recognized as a leader in her field by various market commentators and directories, including Chambers Canada, Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory, Thomson Reuters, Legal 500, Chambers Global, Who’s Who Legal (Global and Canada), Best Lawyers in Canada, and has been recognized for her work in mentorship by the Wendy McDonald Award and in diversity & inclusion by the Lexpert Zenith Award.  Karen lives and works in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Frank Mariage practices in the areas of securities, corporate and mining law, where he has developed an in-depth experience of legal issues relating to the mining industry. Representing a broad variety of actors in the industry, he assists them in the discovery, sale and processing of mineral deposits, in Canada and elsewhere.

Since 2017, Frank has been recognized nationally as one of Chambers & Partners’ top legal talents for his abilities in energy and natural resources, in addition to being recognized for over 12 years by Best Lawyers in Canada for his experience in mining law as well as having been named “Lawyer of the Year” by this same directory in 2018, 2019 and 2023.

Dual-qualified Attorney in New York and Ghana, the Harvard-educated Kimathi Kuenyehia is one of the leading mining lawyers in Ghana.

 Kimathi provides legal and strategic advice to all the major mining companies doing business in Ghana with their most challenging tax matters, most significant business transactions, and most complex disputes.

He is the President of the America Chamber of Commerce, Ghana, and the Managing Partner of KIMATHI & PARTNERS, one of the largest, and prestigious law firms in Ghana.

With broad legal acumen and deep experience in the mining sector, Mike provides insightful, commercially minded advice that progresses clients’ business objectives.

Mike has a comprehensive corporate and securities practice, regularly advising leading companies and global businesses on corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, as well as continuous disclosure, stock exchange matters and shareholder arrangements.

As the head of Torys’ Mining and Metals Practice, Mike has extensive experience in the areas of corporate finance, joint ventures and M&A in the mining sector. He recently led the largest Canadian IPO in the mining sector in the last 10 years and led the sale of Canada’s largest thermal coal business. Mike has particular experience designing and executing complex and novel streaming, royalty and other alternative finance solutions for projects around the globe.