Team size: 7

 What are the most significant cases, projects and/or transactions that you and/or your legal team have recently been involved in?

Last year, we promoted a Lithium Project that we hope will be a pioneer in Latin America, in Consortium with the largest State mining company in the world and with a French company leader in the Lithium industry.

Chile is part of the “Lithium triangle” and the largest productive reserves of this strategic mineral are in our country.

We hope that this project will become a reality in the next few years, but the progress we have made so far fills us with expectations as a company.

Our participation in this whole process has been essential and has meant a great reputational and corporate leap for our company.

How do you approach managing legal aspects during periods of instability or crisis to ensure the organisation’s resilience?  

During the last few years, the management of legal aspects during periods of crisis has been oriented towards providing legal certainty to our workers and the stability of our operations.

It is usual that in difficult times in any industry – especially in mining – the main impacts are suffered by the workers, since the rise in the cost structure affects and restricts staffing. In this context, as a legal area and within the framework of our business strategy, we use the tools provided by the legal system to maintain the stability of our operations, their safety and sustainability, aiming to ensure our workers’ peace of mind. 

This is our main objective in times of crisis because our people are the essential base and, in my opinion, this should always be the goal of any business strategy in times of crisis.   

Have you had any experiences during your career as a lawyer that stand out as particularly unique or interesting?  

Interaction with the indigenous communities in the areas where we have mining operations has been one of the most enriching experiences of my professional life.

Having the possibility of helping and coordinating with these ancestral communities the sustainable and friendly development with their environment, represents a unique opportunity to promote sustainable, responsible and fruitful industrial activities.

Given the current geopolitical shifts and growing uncertainties around international free trade, has your company’s risk profile evolved, and are you taking measures to address these challenges?  

Yes. The measures we have adopted focus on maintaining a reasonable cost structure and a permanent and continuous relationship with the government agencies in charge of regulating and controlling the most relevant variables of the country’s international trade.

Chile is an eminently export-oriented country and, in this context, all international variables affecting trade have an impact on our productive system.

This means that companies must be constantly aware of the need to adopt protectionist strategies, but without losing productivity.

What is a cause, business or otherwise, that you are passionate about? Why is this?  

I’m committed to promoting integral business projects that involve sustainable productivity, human development and the use of technological advances.

Currently, no company can be sustainable without consolidating environmental, social and technological variables in its operations.

The challenges of a company’s legal area are to be at the forefront of internal strategic decisions. Today we are not only legal advisors; we are essential executives of a company.