INTRODUCTION Contributed by: Carlos Vilhena, Pinheiro Neto Advogados
assist their clients as they navigate through a constantly changing world. Established Mining Law A deep understanding of the more traditional mining law matters – such as the different legal systems, sources of law, ownership of mineral resources, role of the state, legal nature of min - eral rights, granting of mineral rights and secu - rity of tenure, just to name a few – remains a fundamental requirement for lawyers who wish to provide their clients with premium, top-notch services. Additionally, lawyers must be fully updated and in control of the impact of health and safety requirements, taxes, duties, royalties, transfer tax and capital gains around the globe, as these are key factors in successful mining investments and operations. New technologies being implemented in mineral production chains, such as workflow automa - tion, reprocessing of tailings, bio-mining, and blockchain platforms for trading and tracking commercial operations, will demand equivalent legal skills among mining lawyers, as new legal issues may arise from the regulation of such mat - ters by governments and from the dynamics of the new reality. A fast-changing world order, with complex geopolitics, also plays a very important role. This will demand constant improvement by mining lawyers, who will need to conduct cross- disciplinary analysis and counselling to assess increasingly complex mining operations from all angles. Mining Investments and Finance Mining investment and finance legal matters play a dominant role in the work of a mining lawyer. It is crucial for the mineral law practitioner to be fully informed about the legal aspects of
investment attraction, special rules on foreign investment approval, and restrictions on foreign investment in the exploration and mining sec - tors. Multilateral and bilateral treaties that favour and protect investments in exploration and min - ing, sanctions and restrictions to international trade are also of the utmost importance. Knowledge of the main sources of finance for exploration, development and mining in different jurisdictions will certainly be a great advantage for a lawyer in this field, equipping these pro - fessionals to work in a variety of transnational deals. The intricacies of domestic and international securities markets in the financing of explora - tion, development and mining in different parts of the world – as well as the legal features relat - ing to security over mining tenements and relat - ed assets in the context of exploration, devel - opment and mining finance – are essential to a mining lawyer’s performance. In the past years, private investors have sig - nalled great appetite for green minerals projects aimed at energy transition, which has heated the markets for financing and M&A. In the years to come, considering the ambitious goals set for decarbonisation and the utmost relevance of certain minerals in this scenario, the indus - try may expect further increases in the capital availability for this type of investment, without prejudice to other minerals that may come into fashion, and for new technologies to reprocess tailings and waste to exploit green minerals. Environment, Health and Safety Environmental, health and safety legal matters have been at the top of the list for mining law - yers for some time now. Mining companies are mostly very conscious of their environmental
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