About

Pan American Silver is the world’s second largest primary silver producer, providing enhanced exposure to silver through a diversified portfolio of assets, large reserves and growing production. It owns and operates six mines in Mexico, Peru, Argentina and Bolivia. Founded in 1994, the company is headquartered in Vancouver and its legal team, led by general counsel Christopher Lemon, provides legal, governance, corporate secretarial, compliance and business advice to the corporate head office and to all of its operations. Three lawyers, one paralegal and one legal assistant comprise the legal team which is based in Vancouver. The company also has four lawyers based in Peru and two lawyers based in Argentina. In the Vancouver office, in addition to the general counsel, the team consists of vice president legal affairs and corporate secretary Delaney Fisher, assistant corporate secretary Cori Compton, legal counsel Emily Yuen and legal assistant and office manager Liane Scott. Over the past two years, the legal team at Pan American Silver has been committed to becoming an even more valuable contributor to the organisation, not only from a legal perspective, but as a business partner. As a department, it has earned a reputation as a well-respected and sought after legal and business advisor in the corporate office, as well as at each of the operations. The team has instituted global annual legal summits and quarterly conference calls that all members of the legal team attend. The summits and conference calls enable each member to share current key work streams and experiences. The team was also a key player in the recently announced C$1.3bn acquisition of Tahoe Resources. Lemon led the effort with the indispensable support and assistance of the Vancouver legal team, handling the transaction negotiations, due diligence and deal documentation. He highlights that, ‘the combined company will be the world’s largest silver company by free float. The acquisition will significantly increase the geographic scope and capacity of the Pan American legal department. While this transaction is the most recent example, the team is regularly involved in complex legal and M&A matters, inter-jurisdictional regulatory and securities work, and our governance and compliance programmes’.