Natural Resources Forum

Nabylah joined the PRI in June 2017, where she has been focusing on social issues as part of the ESG team. At the PRI, Nabylah supports investors’ efforts to address social issues such as human rights, working conditions and responsible sourcing with companies in their portfolio both through collaborative engagements and publication of practical guidance. In recent engagements, Nabylah has been collaborating with investors on pushing the adoption of the UN Guiding Principles by mining and oil and gas companies and on responsible sourcing of cobalt by electronics and automotive companies.

Prior to joining to the PRI, Nabylah completed a PhD in Political Science at Sapienza University in Rome. She also holds an MA in International Affairs from LUISS Guido Carli University and a BA in International and Comparative Politics from the American University of Paris.

Mr. Barton has been a Portfolio Manager at Orion since 2016 and runs Orion’s London office. Orion is a leading specialist mining investor, managing approximately US$5bn of investment in equity, debt, stream and offtake investment in mining companies worldwide. Prior to Orion, Mr. Barton was Chief Executive Officer of Pala Investments, a mining‐focused investment company, joining shortly after its formation in 2006. Before joining Pala, Mr. Barton was Vice President at Hatch Corporate Finance (now HCF International Advisers), a mining and metals‐focused corporate finance boutique and was a Manager at Deloitte & Touche. Mr. Barton holds a First Class Honours degree in Geography from the University of Leicester. He is a qualified chartered accountant (ICAEW).

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.

Currently holds the position of Director for Sustainable Development of En+ Group. Prior to joining En+ has been working in UC Rusal for nine years focusing on regional development, climate change, environment and energy issues. In 2006 graduated from the Perm Branch of the State University - Higher School of Economics,Management Department, in 2008 completed his master studies in Public Administration at the same University in Moscow.

Michael Canfield is a lead long-only Portfolio Manager at Man GLG, focusing on dedicated responsible investment strategies. He has been the sole portfolio manager of an environmental strategy since 2015. In this role, Michael has spoken widely on environmental and carbon pricing issues at external conferences. His approach is bottom-up, particularly based on FCF-yield analysis and active engagement with corporate management teams. Previously, he was responsible for Man Group’s global alpha capture platform.

Before joining Man GLG in 2009, Michael spent two and a half years at Dresdner Kleinwort as an Associate in Pan European Equity Sales.

Michael was educated in English Language & Literature at Oxford University.

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.

Mr. Child was commissioned as an officer in the 2nd King Edward VII’s Own Gurkha Rifles and served in the British Army for 4 years. He joined Condor’s Board in May 2006 and became CEO in July 2011. He acquired the concessions that comprise La India Project and has raised the finance and developed the Project into what it is today.

Mr Child has 20 years of equity capital markets experience, as an institutional stockbroker and in corporate finance/private equity, mainly in emerging markets. At board level Mr. Child has been an executive director of Hong Kong listed Regent Pacific Group, an emerging market fund manager and private equity group, which spun off Charlemagne Capital Limited. He has board level experience of AIM listed and private companies.

Ben Cleary is the Portfolio Manager of the Tribeca Global Nature Resources Fund and a Director of Tribeca Investment Partners. Ben has had an extensive career in the natural resources sector having worked in a number of specialist, director level roles at Macquarie Bank, RBC and RBS in Europe and Asia. In 2015, Ben founded Tribeca Global Natural Resources within Tribeca Investment Partners and has grown the team into one of Australia’s largest dedicated natural resources investment groups at a time where a number of investment management firms have exited the sector. In 2016, the Tribeca Global Natural Resources Fund that Ben manages was ranked as the top performing hedge fund globally by Preqin in 2016. The Tribeca Global Natural Resources team have been instrumental in corner-stoning more than $5bn of announced transactions in Australasia, Europe and North America since Ben founded the business. Ben’s team has been heavily involved in structuring a number of equity and credit transactions which has seen Tribeca become a preferred capital partner with both companies, banks and advisors. Ben is based in Singapore and is the Chief Executive Officer for Tribeca Investment Partners Asia. Ben holds a Bachelor of Economics from the University of Queensland, a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance from FINSIA and is a member of the Australian Institute of the Company Directors

Ella Cullen is Co-founder & CMO of Minespider, a blockchain protocol for supply chain due diligence. She also leads their textile initiative, Threadcounts. Ella is an UNECE expert in blockchain traceability, contributing to ongoing policy and project discussions. She is also a strong proponent of female empowerment and founded TokenWoman to promote more female speakers in blockchain. Previously, she led the marketing efforts for startups such as CodeControl, IconPeak & RecMix. She holds a CEMs Masters in International Management from NOVA and Copenhagen Business School. 

A corporate responsibility and ESG specialist with 18+ years experience across multiple sectors; big-4 consulting, media, retail, luxury goods and mining. Jack currently leads sustainability, health & safety, policy and risk for Gemfields, the world's largest coloured gemstone mining company and owner of luxury jeweller Fabergé. Jack is the strategic and operational link between reputational risk planning, proof-points and operational change and has experience of human rights litigation and reputational crisis response.

Iancu covers the extractives industries  and supports the development of low-carbon investments as part of the stewardship team at Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM). Iancu joined LGIM in 2017 after working several years in communications and investor outreach for the Carbon Tracker Initiative, a leading think-tank investigating climate risk in energy markets. He graduated from the London School of Economics and holds degrees in philosophy and public policy.

Aidan Davy joined ICMM in June 2007. As COO, he is responsible for strategy development and implementation and lead the work to develop ICMM’s Mining Principles, which define good practice environmental, social and governance requirements for the mining and metals industry. He also leads ICMM's work on environmental issues, including the management of issues relating to biodiversity, climate change, mine closure, tailings and water. Prior to assuming the role of COO in 2015, Aidan led ICMM's work on social and economic development, investor engagement and sustainability reporting.

Aidan has 34 years of cross-sectoral experience on sustainable development issues, working with a range of private, multi-lateral and not-for-profit organisations, including the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation in Washington DC. For the first decade of his career, Aidan primarily worked on environmental issues, within an international consulting company, a multinational manufacturing company and at the World Bank. He then shifted his focus to social responsibility and accountability issues, with a strong emphasis on the extractive industries for almost two decades. More recently, his focus has shifted back to environmental matters – recognising that these are closely connected to social responsibility and accountability issues.

Victor Drozdov is head of business communications and investor relations at Polyus, the Moscow-headquartered mining firm that is also Russia's largest gold producer. Before joining Polyus in 2016, he worked in equity sales and sell-side equity research at VTB Capital, and later as part of Severstal’s investor relations team.

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.

Mark is strategic business communications consultant with over 30 years' experience advising clients across a wide range of sectors and geographies on capital markets, corporate reputation and public policy issues.  As part of its international expansion, Mark  established his firm's presence in South Africa, opening an office in Johannesburg, and has worked extensively across  much of the wider sub-Saharan African region with clients in the energy, natural resources, infrastructure, FMCG and business services sectors.

Growing up, my dream was to be a writer. However, when I was old enough to understand the precarious financial nature of this career choice, I decided to think again and follow a route that would allow me to write, engage with the media and exercise my skill for forensic analysis. And after 25 years in the communications industry, supporting leading UK and global brands, I can honestly say that I made the right choice. I have developed a specialism in creating strategies that help companies rebuild their reputations following significant challenges or widespread criticism of an entire industry sector. I have extensive experience of managing short-term crises and work across a broad range of industry sectors including financial services, healthcare, pharmaceutical, retail, defence, mining and manufacturing. Over the years, I have seen the problems companies face change significantly and now work extensively on issues involving sustainability, supply chain risks, human rights, corporate governance and taxation. The work can be complex and challenging but it’s never dull. And, whether it’s a submission to a government select committee or public inquiry, a statement around high-profile litigation or an annual sustainability report, I have plenty of opportunity to write on a daily basis.

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.

Andy Hemphill is Senior Markets Editor for sulphuric acid and potash at London-headquartered Independent Commodity Intelligence Services (ICIS). Before joining ICIS, Andy worked as a public relations consultant for several arms of the Michelin Group, among other organisations.

He started his career in editorial in local news, before moving into business-to-business journalism.

He has also worked in the aviation industry, as part of editorial for Flight International and Airline Business magazines.

Andy has a BA in Journalism from the University of Central Lancashire, and grew up in a village north of Birmingham.

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.

Doug is the UK leader of the Climate Change and Sustainability Services at EY. He has over 20 years’ experience in advising businesses on climate change and sustainability strategies, policies, controls and management. Doug’s focus is to help organisations build long term value through their response to safety, environmental and social issues.  He has worked with organisations across the oil and gas, infrastructure, financial services and consumer products sectors delivering innovative and progressive solutions to his clients.  Doug represents his firm and has spoken on a wide range of topics relating to integrated reporting, sustainable value creation, non-financial risk and assurance.

Jane has 28 years' experience providing environmental, social and governance (ESG) consulting services to the mining industry.

Extensive experience undertaking permitting and auditing of mines, coupled with a thorough understanding of ESG concepts and standards, enables Jane to provide clients with pragmatic and forward-thinking ESG advisory services. 

Jane has a high level of interest in legislation pertinent to ESG and mining, supporting achievement of compliance with legal obligations and assisting clients to maintain and gain social licence to operate. 

Most of Jane’s experience has been gained in Africa, Europe and Central Asia.  Her African experience extends to infrastructure projects, including dams and linear infrastructure.  To date, she has worked on over 35 mine ESIAs and she has led or managed half of these ESIAs. She has also overseen audits of over 100 mines.

Jane is professionally registered environmental scientist with the South African Council of Natural Scientific Professionals and is a member of IAIA and an affiliate member of IEMA.

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

Mr Lemon is a graduate of the Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London (MSc Dic in Mineral Exploration) and Oxford Brookes University (BSc Geological Sciences). He has 24 years’ experience in mineral exploration and business development. Mr Lemon is a founding Director and President of Mkango and Mkango’s major Shareholder, Leominex. From 1994 to 2001 he was the Managing Director of a gold mining company that owned and operated a producing gold mine in Central Asia, where he gained extensive operating experience in emerging markets including government negotiations and project management. From 2001 to 2005, he worked for a family office, Allied Commercial Exporters as an investment adviser. Since 2005 has been involved in the exploration and evaluation of a variety of projects throughout Africa, Central Asia and Europe. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society, Fellow of the Geographical Society and a Member of the Southern African Institute of Mining & Metallurgy.

Adam is the Director of Ethics and Engagement for the Church of England Pensions Board, as well as Co-Chair of the Transition Pathway Initiative and a Board Member of the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, (IIGCC). He is also the co-lead, on behalf of CA100+, for engagement with Royal Dutch Shell that led to the 2018 joint statement on climate targets agreed between Shell and institutional investors.

Following the Brumadinho Tailings Dam disaster, Adam is co – lead of the Mining and Tailings Safety Initiative with John Howchin, from the Swedish Ethics Council. He also represents the Principles for Responsible Investment as a co – convenor of the Global Tailings Review.

Adam founded and now Co-Chairs the Transition Pathway Initiative (TPI) an asset owner-led and asset manager-supported global initiative which assess companies’ preparedness for the transition to the low carbon economy (and publishes this through the London School of Economics).  Adam is also the lead for the Church of England on the Mining and Faith Reflections Initiative (MFRI) a forum that convenes dialogue between mining company CEO’s and Church leaders.

Adam also serves as a member of the Royal College of Physicians Investment Advisory Board and on the Pension and Lifetime Savings Association (PLSA) Stewardship Advisory Group.

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.

Ayuna Nechaeva runs London Stock Exchange’s Primary Markets deal origination team across all of Europe, including Ireland, Russia and the CIS.

In the course of over 10 years at LSEG, Ayuna has worked on dozens of high-profile IPOs and listings across all sectors. Ayuna’s team manages a portfolio of over 200 listed issuers with a total market value close to $1 trillion.

In September 2019, Ayuna was elected Co-Chair of LSEG’s Women Inspired Network UK Chapter. In June 2020, she was appointed as Chair of TheCityUK’s Eurasia Market Advisory Group.

Ayuna was featured in Management Today’s 35 under 35 Women in Management in 2017.

In 2018, she was shortlisted for the Asian Women of Achievement Award in Business category.

Ayuna holds a Master’s in International Business from Grenoble Graduate School of Business and MA in Linguistics & Intercultural Communications from the Moscow State University.

Chris is a partner in the London Commercial Litigation team, specialising in competition litigation and mass tort claims. 

His competition litigation practice involves both bringing and defending civil damages actions for clients across all of the firm’s sectors, with a particular focus on TMT and Financial Institution clients. 

Chris’ mass tort practice focuses on defending clients against claims involving mass harm, typically for environmental pollution, breaches of health and safety or alleged violations of human rights. He advises on claims in the English Court and is also experienced working in collaboration with local counsel to defend proceedings abroad, particularly in Africa. Chris’ mass tort practice is focussed on clients in the energy, mining and TMT sectors.

Robert Pell PhD is Director of Minviro, a spin-out company from University of Exeter. Robert completed his PhD at Camborne School of Mines (University of Exeter) as part of the NERC funded SoSRare project on the topic ‘responsible sourcing of rare earth elements’. During this project novel life cycle assessment approaches were developed and applied to rare earth projects in the prefeasibility stage of development. A unique method to apply life cycle assessment to mine planning was also developed and these technologies have been further refined and applied in commercial settings. Prior to this Robert worked as Assistant Editor at International Mining, a globally distribution magazine covering technical innovations and project case studies for the mining industry.

Mr. Rasmussen joined the EBRD in 1995 at the EBRD London HQ and dealt with energy efficiency in district heating and industrial companies in the former Soviet Union (FSU). He was based in Russia from 1997 to 2013. He was appointed Deputy Country Director for Russia in 2003 and promoted in 2006 to Director of Industry, Commerce and Agribusiness in Russia in with responsibility for the industrial sector (including among other oil field service and energy equipment manufacturing, chemicals, metallurgy, mining, forestry, automotive, retail, agribusiness, telecom and equity funds). Eric Rasmussen was appointed Director Natural Resources 15 April 2013 and is now based at the EBRD HQ in London.

Graduated from EDHEC Business School, pioneering entrepreneur, former partner at Idea Marketing in Lausanne, Switzerland, leader at promoting luxurious brands in sports and culture. Co-founder of Amazon Caribbean Guyana Ltd, the largest company in agroforestry in the Caribbean . He received a prize from the United Nation for the Millennium Development Goals for his contribution to indigenous communities and was an international ambassador for the UN Global Compact. He held the position of Honorary French Consul in Guyana for 20 years.

He is currently a partner at Bcomp SA Switzerland which produces natural fibers, COO of Athys Resources Services Paris, which promotes global re-forestry programmes including the Minaverde Initiative for Responsible Mining.

Adrian is currently leading a programme to scale-up sustainable finance and ESG disclosure across London Stock Exchange Group’s Capital Markets business, which to date has established a Green Economy classification across its markets; an ESG Disclosure benchmarking tool for companies; and the publication of a guide to green finance, in addition to supporting the launch of a new Sustainable Bond Market.

Adrian established ABN AMRO’s Environmental Markets business in 2006 and later supported renewable energy and clean-tech clients as a Director in RBS’ corporate finance team. As CEO of international certification body the Gold Standard, Adrian oversaw the development of result-based finance tools that have enabled hundreds of clean technology and sustainable land-use projects to attract millions of dollars in investment, including via his involvement in creating Fairtrade International’s Fairtrade Climate Standard.

Adrian is a Non-Executive Director of Evora, a leading sustainable real-estate advisor and software business.

Nigel is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and was formerly a Royal Naval Officer in the Fleet Air Arm. Upon leaving the Royal Navy, he qualified with KPMG where he stayed for a further three years before leaving to work in commerce. He worked for six years in management with British Airways before leaving in 2002. He joined CAML in 2007, became CFO of the Group in 2009 and has been instrumental in developing the business. In April 2018, he was appointed Chief Executive Officer.

Afreximbank is an investment grade rated Pan-African DFI with over US$ 15 Billion of assets.

It is Africa’s leading force in Intra-African Trade and Export Development. The Bank’s mandate is anchored in Trade Finance and its scope of interventions covers direct lending, structured risk bearing, direct equity and a broad based investment banking services.

Prior to joining the Bank, Mr. Sagna headed the Financial Advisory Services of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). He is a seasoned executive with the privilege of more than two decades' track record in over in global finance. His international career includes North American experiences with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Emerging Capital Partners (ECP), and European experiences with Millennium Global and Blackthorn Capital. He recently served as a board director to the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) of Rwanda and as member of the President of Senegal’s Council of Investments.

Mr. Sagna holds a Bachelor degree and a Master of Finance from Boston College and has been sponsored to management programs both at Harvard Business School and London Business School.

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.

Namrata Thapar is Global Head of Mining for IFC, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group. Ms. Thapar leads IFC’s investment team responsible for supporting the mining sector and developing IFC’s mining business with a focus on sustainability and development impact across the emerging markets. IFC’s financing includes investments in equity, mezzanine and senior debt. She joined IFC in 1999 and has managed investments in mining transactions globally with clients ranging from major diversified companies to juniors through equity, project and corporate financings. She is based in Washington D.C.

David is a consultant on corporate governance, shareholder engagement, activist investment and capital markets with a variety of advisory and non-executive roles

He was formerly Vice Chairman of Knight Vinke, at the time one of Europe’s best known activist investment firms, where he was actively involved in leading the engagement with some of Europe’s largest companies.

He is a Member of Council at the Institute of Directors and sits on the IoD’s Corporate Governance Policy Committee, as well as its Audit and Risk Committee. As a consultant, David advises investment companies on corporate governance, stewardship and engagement as well as shareholder activism. He is also a private company Non-Executive Director.

Prior to joining Knight Vinke in 2009, Mr. Trenchard was a Senior Consultant at Tulchan Communications (one of London’s leading capital markets communications advisory firms).

He had previously spent 25 years in investment banking – mostly at Morgan Stanley – where he held various senior posts in equity sales and investment banking in Europe, North America and Asia. Latterly at Morgan Stanley he was a London-based Managing Director in Equity Capital Markets and Head of Corporate Broking.

Mr. Trenchard graduated from Cambridge University, with a degree in Economics.

Before founding Reality Check, John was a partner at a major Canadian Investment Bank and broking house as a Natural Resources Sector Specialist. He has been funding mining companies for a decade. He has also held leadership roles in a major media & technology firm.

Angelina Verba is Head of IR and Sustainable Development at Uralkali, one of the world’s leading potash producers, headquartered in Berezniki, Perm Territory, Russia. Uralkali is responsible for over 17% of global output of potash, a fertilizer essential for plant growth thereby playing a crucial role in contributing to global food security and addressing rising global population amidst decreasing arable lands.

Angelina is responsible for relations with ratings agencies, bondholders and other stakeholders of the company, and manages Uralkali’s financial model. During her time at Uralkali, she has been involved in corporate M&A and transactional activities, including in the issuance of a USD 500 million Eurobond in 2019 and share buybacks in 2015-2016. She was also responsible for managing the automation of the process of preparing consolidated financial statements in accordance with IFRS standards at the company. During her tenure, Uralkali has significantly increased its ESG disclosure practices and adopted an enhanced approach to sustainability.

Prior to joining Uralkali in 2014, Angelina headed the Financial Planning and Analysis at InTouch Insurance Group in Russia, having previously worked in audit at Deloitte and Touche.

Niels Wage is CEO of Danakali, a fertilizer company developing Colluli, the exceptional SOP resource in Eritrea. A recognised potash professional, Niels previously held senior management roles at BHP and was responsible for marketing, sales and supply chain for the Jansen Potash Project. In leading the transformation of Colluli into a producing world-class SOP asset, Niels’s focus is on sustainable development and strong stakeholder relationships, in making this multigenerational investment of the Colluli Project accessible. Niels holds a Master’s Degree in Business Economics (MSc) from University of Amsterdam, INSEAD International Directors Programme Certificate in Corporate Governance (IDP-C).

Mr Walsh is a resources industry executive, mining engineer and geophysicist with over 25 years’ experience working for mining companies and investment banks in mining related roles. Joe was the General Manager Corporate Development with PanAust and was
instrumental in the evolution of PanAust from an explorer in 2004 to a US$2+billion, ASX 100 multi-mine copper and gold company. Joe also has extensive equity capital market experience and has been involved with the technical and economic evaluation of many mining assets and companies around the world.

A mining engineer by training, Jeremy initially worked in the South African gold mining industry and then followed an investment banking career, starting as a mining analyst in 1988. Over the last 30 years he has held various roles including Global Head of Mining Equities at Deutsche Bank, Global Head of Mining Equity Sales at UBS and, most recently, Head – Global Natural Resources at Investec Bank in London. In 2017 he left the investment banking industry and founded his own company, Cornish Lithium Ltd, where he serves as the Chief Executive Officer.

www.simmons-simmons.com

www.londonstockexchange.com

capitalmarkets.bmo.com/en/

www.srk.com/en

highgatecapital.com

www.danakali.com.au

www.hudsonsandler.com

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