About

Recognised as an in-house counsel capable of participating in complex projects and always being able to generate creative and efficient solutions, Mario Larenas has led Freeport-McMoRan’s legal department in Chile for the last four years. Upon joining the US-headquartered mining company, Larenas was tasked with reorganising the Chilean legal function and managed to successfully reduce the headcount of the team without compromising the quality of work. Key highlights in his more recent career focus on fostering a culture of support and cooperation between his staff lawyers in a department that now works as a single unit, as well as successfully participating in overseeing Freeport-McMoRan’s negotiations with local communities to ensure the smooth running of mining operation and projects. In addition, Larenas was intricately involved in the sale of Candelaria Mining Complex to Lundin Mining, as well as with his successful negotiations with unions of Sociedad Contractual Minera El Abra. A significant portion of Larenas’ career has been within the mining sector with previous in-house roles held at Minera Antucoya and Antofagasta Minerals. Before joining the mining sector, he worked in private practice for the law firms Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and Cariola Díez Pérez-Cotapos.