About

With a 15 year career in top national and international law firms in Chile, including serving as general counsel at QPX, now known as Quantum-Discoveries, Daniel Weinstein is managing counsel for projects, commercial and exploration at BHP. Having joined in 2017 he is an expert in the mining sector across several jurisdictions. At BHP he is in charge of the legal aspects of explorations, projects, business development and commercial matters, which includes supply, projects contracts and procurement and marketing, reporting to Nicolás Lustig, the legal vice president for the whole Americas region. On his experience he highlights that he has ‘represented all types of mining and natural resources players; developers, major and junior mining companies, equipment suppliers, engineering and construction firms, drilling companies and financiers. That diverse experience within the mining sector has allowed me to bring to the table a strategic, holistic and business oriented perspective’. Exposure and strategic use of multiple jurisdictions to achieve the best outcome for the company is a particular talent of Weinstein’s. He identifies that this type of work is uncommon in Chile, as he describes, ‘due to my particular background, I have structured, negotiated and executed mining deals in several countries, with a focus on Latin America, in which we have envisioned and designed ad-hoc contractual structures, with elements from different jurisdictions and subject to the laws of two or even three jurisdictions’. Weinstein is centrally involved in deal making strategy at all levels of the company including working with non-lawyers within the organisation bringing the legal department into the heart of the process. This experience is reflected in the view of a nominator who identifies that Weinstein has ‘been for many years one of the most active lawyers in the mining exploration sector in Chile’. The nominator continues: ‘I have had him as counterparty in several deals, including the execution of a joint venture for the exploration of multiple mining projects in Chile, and more recently, in an option agreement for a project in northern Chile. He is a very practical lawyer that always comes up with creative solutions to unlock negotiations and successfully execute the transaction. And no matter how tough the negotiation is, it is always a pleasure to have him as a counterparty’.