About

Commissioned in 2014, Sierra Gorda is an open pit copper and molybdenum mine located in Chile’s main copper basin, the Atacama Desert. The mine is operated by Compania Minera Sierra Gorda – a Las Condes based company which is run as a joint venture between the Polish KGHM, the Japanese Sumitomo Metal Mining Company and Sumitomo Corporation. The team tasked with providing legal support is market-leading, and is comprised of individual lawyers who are perhaps some of the most knowledgeable in Chile’s mining sector, combining extensive technical expertise with in-depth knowledge of relevant regulations. Led by general counsel for corporate affairs and sustainability Miguel Baeza, the team has been supporting the company from its very inception, through the mine’s construction phase and the most recent phase and Oxide Poject. Hailed by nominators for its ‘expert advice’ in corporate, mining and environmental law, the team has most recently made immense contributions with its advice aimed at altering the nature for the $760m loan provided by the owner company KGHM. A year earlier, in 2016, the team’s significant influence to the company’s ongoing performance and strategy could be seen in its 11 month-long negotiations with trade unions which resulted in a successful outcome for both sides. Miguel Baeza, who is cited by one source as a professional ‘whose leadership skills and proactive approach always encourages his team to make the difference’, is credited for having built the internal legal department from scratch, implementing a coherent corporate policy in relation to the use of outside counsel and positioning his team as a hub for all regulatory and political matters. Legal manager Max Larrain, another outstanding professional from Sierra Gorda’s legal team, has also worked at the company from its very incorporation, impresses with his ongoing support of the mine’s operations, as well as, more specifically, his contributions to the implementation of new policy agreements.