Team size: 20

How does your team contribute to the overall business strategy of the company? Can you share an example of a recent legal-led initiative that had a significant impact?

Legal creates the most value when it is involved in shaping decisions and not just reviewing them. In mining, most significant business decisions have a legal dimension, but they are rarely purely legal questions. They typically involve a combination of operational, environmental, regulatory, commercial, and stakeholder considerations. Our role is to help the business navigate such complexity and make informed decisions that are both aligned with the company’s values and support its long-term objectives. Good legal advice is not measured by how technically sophisticated it is, but by whether it provides enough certainty for people to sound make decisions, allocate capital correctly and move projects forward. That requires legal teams to understand the commercial and operational realities of the business, rather than approaching issues purely from a legal perspective.

In my view, one area where Legal has the greatest opportunity to create value is in dispute prevention. While legal teams are often judged by how they manage disputes once they arise, I believe that an equally important measure of success is whether they help prevent issues from becoming disputes in the first place. In mining, some level of disagreement is inevitable. Projects involve a wide range of stakeholders, each with their own priorities, concerns, expectations. Our role is not to eliminate every source of tension, but to identify potential issues early, facilitate constructive dialogue and help the business navigate competing interests before positions become entrenched. That requires more than legal analysis – it requires a genuine understanding of the operational, commercial, and social realities of the business, and close collaboration with colleagues across multiple functions.

The best legal solutions are rarely developed in isolation; they emerge from understanding the broader context in which decisions are being made. Some of the most meaningful contributions made by a legal team are often the least visible. They are reflected in risks identified early, relationships preserved, negotiations that remain collaborative, and projects that continue advancing despite complexity and competing interests. Ultimately, our contribution is helping the business move forward with confidence while protecting the trust, credibility, and relationships that underpin long-term success.

Looking forward, what trends do you foresee in the legal landscape over the next 5–10 years that companies should prepare for?

Over the next decade, I expect the lines between legal, environmental, social, governance and stakeholder considerations to become increasingly intertwined. For companies in the natural resources sector, success will depend on far more than legal compliance. It will increasingly be about earning and maintaining the confidence of the people who are affected by what we do – employees, communities, Indigenous Peoples, governments, investors, business partners. The organisations that perform best will be those that recognise that strong business performance and responsible business conduct are not competing objectives – they reinforce one another.

I also think we are seeing an important shift in where expectations come from. Increasingly, the standards that shape corporate behaviour emerge long before they appear in legislation. They develop through market practice, investor expectations, community engagement and evolving social norms. By the time a formal legal requirement arrives, the direction of travel is often already clear. As lawyers, we need to pay attention not only to what the law is today, but also to where it is heading and what is driving that change.

Artificial intelligence will undoubtedly transform the profession, but I do not think the most significant impact will be efficiency alone. Technology will continue to automate many routine legal tasks, which means the qualities that will distinguish lawyers are likely to become even more human: judgment, curiosity, communication, and the ability to navigate complexity. Helping leaders make decisions in complex circumstances is where lawyers add the greatest value. Ultimately, I believe the most effective lawyers will be those who combine strong technical skills with a genuine understanding of their business and the broader environment in which it operates.