Ruben Alvarado

Ruben Alvarado Vigar became the Chief Executive Officer of Code/co in September 2023. He is a Chemical Civil Engineer who graduated from University of Chile and has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from University of Chile and Tulane University from New Orleans, United States. Ruben Alvarado has 20 years of experience linked to El Teniente Division of Code/co, where he became its general manager. A year after graduating from the University of Chile, he joined Code/co as a Smelter Engineer, where he worked for nine years, between 1984 and 1993, participating in technological developments such as the Teniente Converter and the Slag Cleaning Furnace, among others. From 1994 to 2000 he was smelter manager at Caletones Smelter. In 2000 he was appointed general manager of El Teniente Division, where he served until 2004. During this period, Teniente Development Plan was built and launched, a set of mining, technological and management projects, which reversed the expected drop in productivity. Due to the exhaustion of some sectors, they expanded production capacity and maximized divisional surpluses. After his first stage in Code/co, he became CEO of the Empresa Portuaria de San Antonio between 2004 and 2005. E+M VP of LAN Airlines between 2007 and 2012. CEO of Alsacia & Express between 2012 and 2013. He was CEO of Metro of Santiago between 2014 and 2022. He has also been a member of the board at Acci6n Empresas and America Solidaria NGO.

Kathleen L. Quirk

Kathleen L. Quirk is President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Freeport-McMoRan Inc (Freeport). 

Ms. Quirk joined Freeport in 1989 and had responsibility for a broad range of corporate functions, including Tax, Investor Relations, Corporate Development and Treasury before being named Chief Financial Officer in 2003. During that period, she was named Best CFO in Metals and Mining by Extel (formerly known as Institutional Investor Research) on numerous occasions. She was named President of Freeport in 2021 and became a member of the Board of Directors in 2023. As a senior member of the company’s executive team for more than 20 years, she has been instrumental in Freeport’s strategic planning and execution of company goals. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of Vulcan Materials Company. Ms. Quirk is a graduate of Louisiana State University.

Ivan Arriagada

Iván Arriagada joined Antofagasta Minerals S.A., a Chilean-controlled company listed on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index in February 2015. In April 2016, he was appointed CEO of Antofagasta plc, the holding company of Antofagasta Mining Group. Mr Arriagadais a Commercial Engineer, graduate of the Adolfo Ibañez Business School at Universidad Federico Santa María and holds a Master of Science from the London School of Economics. Prior to joining Antofagasta Minerals, he held the position of ChiefFinancial Officer at Codelco. Before this, he was President of Pampa Norte at Base Metals BHP Billiton, Vice President of Operations at Base Metals BHP Billiton and Chief Financial Officer for Copper at BHP Billiton. Mr Arriagada previously worked in the oil and gas industry at Royal Dutch Shell International, holding various posts in finance and business development, primarily in England, USA and Argentina.


Iván Arriagada ingresa al Grupo Minero Antofagasta Mineral S.A, empresa chilena inscrita en el London Stock Exchange y constituyente del Indice FTSE 100 en febrero de 2015. En abril de 2016, es designado Presidente Ejecutivo de Antofagasta PLC, empresa controladora del Grupo. Iván es Ingeniero Comercial, graduado de la Escuela de Negocios Adolfo Ibáñez de la Universidad Federico Santa María. Posee un Masters en Ciencias del London School of Economics. Antes de unirse a Antofagasta Minerals, ocupó el cargo de Vice Presidente de Finanzas de Codelco, Presidente de Pampa Norte de BHP Billiton Metales, Vice Presidente de Operaciones de Metales Base de BHP Billiton y Vice Presidente de Cobre de BHP Billiton. Previamente trabajó en la industria del petróleo y gas en el Royal Dutch Shell International, ocupando diversos puestos en finanzas y desarrollo de negocios , principalmente en Inglaterra , EE.UU. y Argentina.

Katie Jackson

Katie was appointed Chief Executive, Copper in September 2024.

Before this, Katie was President of National Grid Ventures responsible for financing, developing and operating large-scale energy infrastructure assets including electricity interconnectors, LNG solutions, renewables, and competitive transmission.

With a career spanning three continents at Shell, UBS, Anadarko, Equinor and BG Group, Katie brings strong operational, commercial and strategy experience with a passion for solving technical, operational and financial challenges to make complex global projects work. Katie is a Non-Executive Director at specialist engineering group IMI since July 2018, and Chair of POWERful Women, the UK’s cross-industry initiative working for a gender-balanced, diverse and inclusive energy sector. 

Aurora Williams

Aurora Elvira Williams Baussa is a Chilean business engineer. She was the Chilean Minister of Mining from 11 March 2014 to 11 March 2016. In an August 2023 Cabinet reshuffle, Boric re-appointed Williams as Minister of Mining, where she would replace Marcela Hernando.

Alejandro Tapia

Alejandro Tapia assumed the role of President of Escondida | BHP, the world's largest copper-producing mine, on July 1, 2023. Hailing from Antofagasta, Alejandro has an extensive career in the mining industry. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Engineering and a Master of Science in Mineral Economics, both from the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, as well as a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the London Business School. Alejandro joined BHP in 2004 and has since held various leadership roles, including Vice President of Projects at Pampa Norte, Head of Directional Studies, Director of Integrated Operations Projects, and General Manager of the Concentrator at Escondida. His most recent role was VP Planning and Technical Minerals Americas, where he led the growth strategy for copper and potash.

Mikael Staffas

Mikael Staffas is the President and CEO of Boliden since 2018. He has been a member of the top management group at Boliden since 2011, first as CFO and then as Head of Business Area Mines. Mikael is the Chairman of the boards of the International Zinc Association and the Employers' Association of the Swedish Mining Industry. Deputy Chairman of SveMin and the Swedish Association of Industrial Employers. Member of the Executive Board of the Confederation of Swedish Enterprise and member of the boards of International Copper Association, ICMM, lndustrikraft, and Kemira. Before joining Boliden, Mikael was the CFO of the Swedish forest products group Sodra and before that he was a Partner at McKinsey & Co in Stockholm and in Moscow. 

Simon Morris

imon has over two decades of experience in the natural resources sector and has worked across all parts of the mining value chain in both operational and corporate leadership roles.He is the Head of CRU’s Base Metals division, a global team delivering macro-to-micro data, analysis and insight across 14 of the sector’s most critical metals.  Delivering market intelligence comprising detailed asset performance through to global industry trends and the latest cutting-edge emissions data, Simon’s team is helping to support some of our customers’ biggest decisions.Before joining CRU, Simon worked at Shell and Rio Tinto in senior strategy, M&A, investment analysis and corporate affairs roles; led the Metals division at a B2B market intelligence company; and most recently was Chief of Staff leading strategy and corporate affairs departments at a commodity trader. Simon holds an MSc in International Strategy & Diplomacy from LSE and a Bachelor of Commerce from Edinburgh University.

Artem Volynets

Mr. Volynets is the Founder, Chairman and CEO of ACG Metals Ltd.  He has 27+ years of experience in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, and senior corporate management roles.  He has led private and public transactions worth more than $30 billion and managed leading businesses in the metals and mining industry.  

Mr. Volynets listed ACG Acquisition Company as a SPAC on LSE in 2022 with a strategy to consolidated the critical metals industry.   The company completed the first $300m transaction in Türkiye in 2024, acquiring producing Copper / Gold Gediktepe mine and was renamed ACG Metals Ltd.   ACG’s near term goal is to build 200-300 ktpa copper producer via a series of roll-up transactions.  

Mr Volynets has previously designed and implemented a similar roll-up strategy in aluminium, having led several high-profile transactions that created UC Rusal, which he listed in Hong Kong in 2010 at a pre-money valuation of over $20 billion.  

Mr. Volynets’ former roles include the CEO of Chaarat Gold, CEO of En+ Group, head of strategy and Board director of UC Rusal.  He also served as an independent non-executive director at Norilsk Nickel and as Chairman of International Aluminium Institute and started his carrier as a strategy consultant with Monitor Group in Boston and London.  

He obtained an MBA from Georgetown University in 1997 (in a joint program with INSEAD in France) and a BA in Economics from The American University in Washington DC in 1994 and previously studied geology and philosophy at Moscow State University.    

Shaun Usmar

Shaun Usmar is an international mining executive with 30 years of experience working around the globe in some of the world's largest and fastest growing mining companies. Currently, he serves as the CEO of Vale Base Metals. Formerly, Mr. Usmar founded Triple Flag Precious Metals Corp. and served as the CEO and a Director until September 2024 and prior roles included Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Barrick Gold Corporation, from 2014 to 2016. He joined Xstrata in 2002 as an early senior executive that helped grow the company into one of the world's largest diversified miners at the time of its acquisition by Glencore in 2013. His roles at Xstrata included General Manager of Business Development in London, Chief Financial Officer of Xstrata's global Ferro-Alloys business in South Africa, and Chief Financial Officer of Xstrata's global Nickel business in Canada. Prior to joining Xstrata, Mr. Usmar worked at BHP Billiton in Corporate Finance in London, and started his career in mining in operations in the steel and aluminum industries as a production engineer. Mr. Usmar serves as Chair of Make- A-Wish Canada and as an independent director of Alamos Gold and has served on several other boards in the past, including Peabody Energy and the World Gold Council, where he chaired the Audit Committee. He holds a Bachelor of Science Engineering in Metallurgy and Materials from the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa, and an MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, both with distinction.

Dr. Toralf Haag

After his degree in Business Administration from the University of Augsburg, continued by a doctorate at the University of Kiel, Dr. Toralf Haag started his career at Thyssen Handelsunion AG in Düsseldorf in 1994.

From 1997 to 1999 he was Director Finance, M&A and Corporate Development of The Budd Company Detroit (USA), a subsidiary of ThyssenKrupp, until he was appointed as CEO President Stamping & Frame Division of The Budd Company Detroit in 2000. From 2002 to 2005 he was Chief Financial Officer and Member of the Management Board at Norddeutsche Affinerie AG (now Aurubis AG) in Hamburg until he followed an appointment as CFO and Member of the Executive Committee of Lonza Group AG in August 2005.

Since October 2016, he was a member of the Corporate Board of Management of the Voith Group and initially held the position of Chief Financial Officer. In October 2018, Dr. Toralf Haag was appointed Chairman of the Corporate Board of Management of Voith GmbH & Co. KGaA. Dr. Haag was appointed Chairman of the Executive Board of Aurubis AG as of September 1, 2024.

Menno Sanderese

Mauricio Ortiz

Erik Heimlich

Erik Heimlich is Head of Base Metals Supply at CRU. Since joining CRU in 2012, Erik has been involved in the analysis of the copper market with a particular focus on Latin American mine supply.
Erik regularly undertakes site visits to copper operations around the world.

Erik holds an MSc in Economics and Econometrics from Essex University and is based in CRU’s Santiago office.

Nicholas Snowdon

Nicholas Snowdon heads the metals and mining research at Mercuria Energy Trading. He brings 17 years of experience in the commodity trading industry previous that, most recently working at Goldman Sachs as a Managing Director, Head of Metals Research. Previously, he was with Deutsche Bank as Director, Base Metals and Bulks Strategist for 2 years. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Politics and Philosophy from the University of Durham and a Master’s degree in Development Economics and Finance from the London University, School of Oriental and African Studies.

Thomas Bower

Lucy Martin

Lucy Martin is a Principal Vice President and General Manager for the South America region of Bechtel’s Mining & Metals Global Business Unit (M&M GBU). She assumed this role in September 2023.Previously, she served as Chief Financial Officer and Operations Manager for the business unit.Lucy has nearly 25 years of experience with Bechtel, serving in management positions of increasing responsibility.

She has held various roles in Business Development and General Management, primarily in the M&M GBU, including as the Strategy, Marketing and Business Development Manager and General Manager for Asia Pacific. In these roles she led the teams responsible for several major new contracts.Lucy has worked in a variety of capacities on five continents in the M&M, Energy and Infrastructure business units.

Her experience includes roles on the Tay wastewater project (UK), Alba Line 5 expansion project (Bahrain), Fjarðaál aluminum smelter project (Iceland) and Caval Ridge project (Australia).She holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) degree in chemical process engineering from the University of Sheffield in the UK. She is a chartered engineer and fellow of Engineers Australia.Lucy is based in M&M’s Santiago office.

Robert Edwards

Robert Edwards has twenty years of experience in the metals and mining industry. Between 1996 and 2004 worked at CRU focusing on the specialty steel and associated materials sectors. Subsequently, he worked for two years as group economist at the steel producer Corus / Tata Steel Europe, in London. In 2007, Robert returned to CRU where he worked on a variety of single client projects related to steel and steelmaking raw materials. In 2010, he took charge of CRU’s North American steel flat products research, with editorial responsibility for the company’s flagship Steel Sheet Monitor and Market Outlook publications.

In November 2012, Robert assumed responsibility for developing copper mining costs in CRU’s base metals unit. After a successful three and a half years in this role, he transitioned to a new position in the first half of 2016, covering global copper demand and markets.

Robert Edwards cuenta con veinte años de experiencia en la industria de minería y metales. Entre 1996 y 2004, se desempeñó en CRU, con un enfoque en los sectores de aceros especiales y materiales asociados. Posteriormente, fue economista del grupo en el productor de acero Corus / Tata Steel Europe, en Londres. En 2007, Robert volvió a CRU, donde trabajó en una variedad de proyectos para clientes individuales en relación con el acero y la materia prima para la industria del acero. En 2010, asumió el cargo de la investigación de productos planos de acero en Norteamérica para CRU, con responsabilidad editorial de las publicaciones insignia de la empresa, Steel Sheet Monitor y Market Outlook.

En noviembre de 2012, Robert asumió la responsabilidad del desarrollo de costos de la minería de cobre en la unidad de metales base de CRU. Luego de tres años y medio de éxito en este cargo, cambió a un nuevo puesto en la primera mitad de 2016, con responsabilidad de la demanda y mercados globales de cobre.

Speaker to announced, Citi Global Markets

Emil Kalinowski

Emil Kalinowski's research focuses on how socioeconomic and geopolitical trends affect the supply, demand, and price of precious and base metals. His present focus is on the malfunction of the monetary system in 2007 and how its continuing disorder has impacted commodity prices, macroeconomic trends and long-term country risks. 

Adam Simon

Adam Simon is CEO of VectOres Science, Inc. and Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Economic Geology at the University of Michigan. Adam is an expert on the geology and geochemistry of mineral deposits and has led research programs on all seven continents. He co-authored the books Mineral Resources, Economics and the Environment, and Earth Materials: Components of a Diverse Planet, published 115 and supervised or co-supervised nearly 50 MSc. and PhD students. He regularly gives invited lectures around the world including a TEDX talk and was awarded the University of Michigan Teaching Innovation Prize for his transdisciplinary pedagogy

Zuo Cheng

MBA and Senior Economist with thirty years of research experience in the metals and minerals  industry. Vice Chairman of the Resource Economy and Planning Committee of the China Geological and Mineral Economics Society and Director of the China Natural Resources Economics Association.

Tianyu He

Tianyu He joined CRU’s Shanghai office in 2018. He focuses on research and market intelligence around China Copper demand. Before joining CRU, Tianyu had rich experience in multiple metals market and consulting projects. He holds a Master of International Financial Analysis from Jonkoping International Business School in Sweden.

Fredrik Weissenrieder

Fredrik Weissenrieder is the founder of Weissenrieder & Co, Weissr and now recently the consultancy Redesigning Capex Strategy, Recast. In 1994, he developed a revolutionary approach to industrial capital allocation, positioning himself as a recognized global leader in the field of capex strategy. Since then, Fredrik has worked with clients ranging from mid-sized companies to multinational corporations across six continents spanning dozens of industries. His work has impacted hundreds of industrial production sites, significantly increasing clients' company cash flows, in some cases by as much as 100%.   Fredrik is the co-author of the book Redesigning Capex Strategy, published by McGraw Hill in 2022, and co-hosts The Capex Chat, a video podcast exploring capex strategy, with Daniel Lindén. Fredrik resides in Gothenburg, Sweden.  

Rick Valenta

Professor Rick Valenta leads research aimed at improving the discovery,  mining and processing of hydrothermal ore deposits.  His areas of focus include structural geology, geophysics and ore deposit geology, with an overall theme of better understanding the underlying processes which lead to the localisation and characteristics of these deposits.  Rick also has a strong focus on development of 4D mineral systems models from deposit to region scales, using these models to improve targeting techniques, better formulate geological and resource models, and inform prediction of mineral processing performance.

Peter Harrisson

Dr Peter Harrisson has worked on CRU’s Sulphur and Sulphuric Acid analysis since joining the company in early 2011 and is Head of the Sulphur team. He also works across other nutrient areas, including both market and cost analysis. Prior to joining CRU, Dr Harrisson completed a PhD in Industrial Chemistry at Durham University.