Digital Latin American Mining Summit

Overview

Latin America’s mineral wealth is undeniable, holding the world’s largest reserves of copper, lithium and silver. Peru, Mexico, Chile, Bolivia and Argentina alone were responsible for half the silver produced worldwide in 2018, and 9 out of the top 10 biggest copper producing mines of 2019 are located in the region. Peru is a top two copper producer and among the top 10 in gold, while large-scale gold mines continue to be discovered and activated in Ecuador. Colombia is the world leader in emerald production and holds the largest coal reserves in South America. However, despite the currently impressive production levels in the region, the real extent of its exploration potential is still widely believed to be largely unexploited.

To realize this potential and strengthen their countries’ mining project pipelines, Latin American governments are racing to implement creative incentives and bolster the ease of doing business to lure much-needed and capital-heavy investments to the continent. To discuss the competitiveness of their mining projects on offer, The Business Year is bringing together cabinet-level leaders in the public sector from across the region in a Digital Latin American Mining Summit. This special edition of our Digital Round Tables series will include individual presentations from policy-makers with a dedicated Q&A session, offering the audience the opportunity to interact directly with these authorities, as well as a group panel discussion.

Speakers

Guillaume Légaré

Head of South America Toronto Stock Exchange & TSX Venture Exchange, TMX Group

Guillaume Légaré

Head of South America
Toronto Stock Exchange & TSX Venture Exchange, TMX Group

Guillaume Légaré is Head of South America at the Toronto Stock Exchange & TSX Venture Exchange, TMX Group. He joined TMX Group in January 2019 and is the Head, South America for Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) based in Lima, Peru. He is responsible for developing and maintaining relationships with private companies, prospective issuers, and influencers in the region with the view of identifying key companies to list on the exchanges and supporting them through the listing process. He also leads the multi-faceted strategy of driving sustainable long-term growth for TSX and TSXV in South America. He worked in the banking industry for 14 years, with nine of those as director, South America and chief representative for the National Bank of Canada in Brazil, leading the bank's capital markets activities in South America. Prior to this, he spent over six years in international technical sales and business development strategies for technology companies in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. He holds a bachelor of business administration degree from Laval University in Quebec, Canada, and an Executive MBA in Finance from IBMEC in Rio de Janeiro. He is fluent in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Francisco Quiroga

Undersecretary of Mining Mexico

Francisco Quiroga

Undersecretary of Mining
Mexico

Francisco Quiroga studied economy at the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL) and has a master's in international economics and development from Yale University, as well as a master's of operations research from the University of Auckland. He has over 20 years of experience in the metallurgical mining industry, both nationally and internationally, as well as in intentional commerce and the negotiation of trade agreements across the entire supply chain. His first experience in the Secretariat of Economy was from 1997 to 2002 as director of trade remedy agreements. He was also director of strategic development and, later, international planning for Grupo Villacero, director of strategic planning at ArcelorMittal México, and director general at Coutinho & Ferrostaal (now C&F International).

Fernando L. Benalcázar

Vice Minister of Mines Ecuador

Fernando L. Benalcázar

Vice Minister of Mines
Ecuador

Fernando L. Benalcázar is a civil engineer with 29 years of professional experience at the local and international level. He graduated from the Catholic University of Ecuador and has a master's of science in civil engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and Certified Safety Professional in the United States (CSP). His professional experience has taken him to Syria, France, Canada, the US, Oman, Venezuela, Brazil, Colombia, and Ecuador. As Vice Minister of Mines, he maintains a clear vision of transparency and institutional efficiency, promoting the development of socially responsible, environmentally sustainable and economically profitable projects. In 2019, under his first administration, Ecuador's 2019-2030 Public Mining Policy was established, and Ecuador´s first two large-scale mines, Mirador and Fruta del Norte, began production.

Carolina Rojas Hayes

Vice Minister of Mining Colombia

Carolina Rojas Hayes

Vice Minister of Mining
Colombia

Carolina Rojas Hayes is the Colombian Vice Minister of Mining. She is a trained economist from the Universidad de los Andes with a master's degree in public policy from the University of Chicago. He has more than 15 years of experience in the design and implementation of public policies in the mining and energy sector and financing with multilateral banks. In the public sector, she has served as vice president of promotion and development of the national mining agency, where she led the structuring and execution of the strategy to promote the mining sector and encourage small- and medium-sized mining. She was also an advisor to the office of the minister and deputy director of financing with multilateral organizations and governments in the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit. Additionally, she was a professional in international reserves at Banco de la República.

Paul Mitchell

Global Mining & Metals Leader EY

Paul Mitchell

Global Mining & Metals Leader
EY

Paul Mitchell is Global Mining & Metals Leader at EY. He leads a team of 7,000 professionals across consulting, strategy and transactions, assurance, and taxation in each of our areas. He had 10 years of operational experience in Australia, the UK, and Africa, followed by 20 years of consulting experience in Australia, the UK, and China. Prior to holding this role he held a number of senior global and Asia Pacific leadership roles in the consulting business.

Augusto Cauti

Vice Minister of Mines Peru

Augusto Cauti

Vice Minister of Mines
Peru

Augusto Cauti has a law degree from the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru, and a master of laws degree from Duke University-School of Law, in North Carolina. Has held legal and regulatory affairs positions within the private and public sectors, both in his country and abroad. He has served as an in-house counsel for a Canadian mining firm and US telecoms companies, as well as external counselor for large Peruvian and Washingtonian law firms. Previously, he was an adviser at the Peruvian Private Promotion Agency (PROINVERSION) and the National Institute for the Free Competition and Intellectual Property (INDECOPI). Also, he has been a consultant with the Inter-American Investment Corporation at the IADB, executive director of the Australia-Peru Chamber of Commerce in Lima - Peru, board director of private companies, and law and negotiations professor at Peruvian universities.