SAVE THE DATES: CTMF 2025 is scheduled to be on Monday - Wednesday May 19 -21, 2025.
At the same location. We hope you join us!
Return to this site for updates.
Register now for any of four CTMF 2024 workshops described below
Workshops will be on Monday, May 20 at Shearman & Sterling's Conference Center, at 599 Lexington Ave
Download a 4 page .pdf of the daily CTMF 2024 schedule/ agenda here
NY SME's 9th Current Trends in Mining Finance Conference
Seeking Certainty in an Uncertain World
Connecting Mining, Finance and Engineering Executives™
Monday, May 20 to Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Join us, register to attend, meet with and get your questions answered by the instructors, - who are leading, qualified technical, financial and non-technical subject matter experts - at the four workshops described below.
All must register in advance. Space* is limited. Your workshop registration to attend a workshop entitles you to join us at the Monday, May 20 Welcome Reception with two invited Guest Speakers. If you register to attend the CTMF conference you are welcome to attend the Tuesday and Wednesday receptions.
See below for more about the workshops and click here to learn more about each of the three receptions.
Click here to view an announcement about CTMF 2024.
Monday, May 20, 2024 from 9:00 to 11:30 AM - registration will begin at 8:30 AM
I. Adam Hawkins & Alan Oshiki: Why We Lose. How We Can Win. Win hearts and minds by defining, understanding, and adapting to social, political, and reputational risk factors. Registration starts at 8:30 AM, workshop ends at 11:30 AM. Registration includes lunch and Monday, May 20 Welcome Reception.
II. Christopher Ryan and Jesse Sherrett: Shearman & Sterling LLP and Gerhard Rudolph, co-Head of Allen & Overy Mining & Metals Group (Johannesburg, South Africa): Key Risks Relating to New Technologies and Steps That Mine Owners and Contractors Should Consider. Registration starts at 8:30 AM, workshop ends at 11:30 AM, includes lunch and Monday, May 20 Welcome Reception.
11:30 AM to 1 PM: Networking Lunch: Registered workshop delegates are welcome to the networking lunch and evening Monday, May 20 Welcome Reception
All at Shearman & Sterling's Conference Center at 599 Lexington Ave
Lunch Sponsor: RESPEC; US Gold Corp.
Monday, May 20, 2024 from 1:00 to 4:30 PM
III. Dave McLane, PE: Burns & McDonnell and Dan Kenny, Manager of Mining Construction : The Challenge of Delivering Projects as the Mining Industry Transitions to a Decarbonized World. Registration and networking lunch start at 11:45 AM, workshop starts at 1 PM, ends ~4:30 PM. 5:30 PM registration starts for Monday, May 20, 2024 Welcome Reception.
IV. Gerald Whittle and Raziel Zisman, M.A., M.E.S., LL.M., Keith Whitechurch and Philip Bangerter: Whittle Consulting: Integrated Strategic Planning in Mining Registration and networking lunch start at 11:45 AM, workshop starts at 1 PM, ends 4:30 PM. Registrants are welcome to attend Monday, May 20, 2024 Welcome Reception.
Below are the details about each of the four workshops on Monday, May 20, 2024.
Below is Stella Searston and Greg Gossan leading a CTMF 2023 workshop: S-K 1300 Disclosure by Registrants Engaged in Mining Operations.
On Monday, May 20, 2024 there will be two morning and two afternoon workshops at Shearman & Sterling’s Conference Center at 599 Lexington Ave. After the afternoon workshops there will be a Welcome Reception at Shearman & Sterling, with registration starting at 5:30 PM with two guest speakers, ending at 8:00 PM.
I. - Adam Hawkins and Alan Oshiki: Why We Lose. How We Can Win. Win hearts and minds by defining, understanding, and adapting to social, political, and reputational risk factors. Registration starts at 8:30 AM, workshop ends at 11:30 AM, includes lunch and Monday, May 20 Welcome Reception.
A successful project requires a deep understanding and effective engagement of all stakeholders. During this workshop registered delegates will learn from industry experts on how to:
• Define and address intangible and above-ground risk factors: social, political, regulatory, legislative, financial and reputational.
• Identify the "stakeholders" around these risk factors and why they matter.
• Methods to build and maintain the broadest possible coalition of support for your operations.
• How to use modern tactics for growing your project’s support base.
• Craft compelling and effective messaging that works across all audiences.
• Use the basics of effective communication - and what to do if there is a crisis.
• Know the playbooks used by opposition groups and certain types of investors to organize and communicate.
• Engage new technology and best practices to grow support for your projects.
• How to know if you are winning support from your project's stakeholders.
Adam Hawkins is an expert on external affairs in the mining industry. His decades of experience span every phase of the mining process, from early-stage exploration and entitling projects to permitting new facilities, expanding operations, and closures. He has worked on projects on every continent except Antarctica. Adam's firm, Global External, helps mining clients understand and adapt to social, political, legislative, regulatory, and reputational risk factors.
Alan Oshiki is a mining engineer with over four decades of experience in engineering, operations and strategic business communications. He is the Treasurer and former Chairman of the New York Section of the SME and is co-Chair of the SME's Current Trends in Mining Finance conference. Alan is Managing Partner of Pushtree Associates LLC and helps management teams and boards of directors engage key stakeholders for mergers and acquisitions, crises, litigation, IPOs and restructuring, as well as practical and effective approaches to ongoing business and capital markets communications.
II. - Christopher Ryan and Jesse Sherrett: Shearman & Sterling and Gerhard Rudolph, co-Head of Allen & Overy, Mining & Metals Group (Johannesburg, South Africa): Managing Risks Arising from the Use of New Technologies. Registration starts at 8:30 AM, workshop ends at 11:30 AM, includes lunch and attending Monday, May 20 Welcome Reception.
The emergence of new technology is changing how mining projects – and natural resource projects, more generally – are executed. Owners and contractors alike must be sensitive to the role that new technology plays – and will play – in the development, expansion, and maintenance of mining operations. Similarly, they must be sensitive to how commercial, technological, and regulatory changes can positively or negatively affect projects. This workshop will explore key risks relating to new technologies and discuss steps that owners and contractors:
(a) should consider when drafting EPC and related project documents, and
(b) can take to minimize these risks during the projects’ construction and operation.
Christopher Ryan is a partner in the International Arbitration practice of Shearman & Sterling. He has extensive experience in international arbitration and litigation and has represented private and State clients in disputes before ICC, AAA, ICSID, UNCITRAL, LCIA, ad hoc arbitral tribunals, and U.S. federal courts. His practice focuses on commercial and investment disputes in the construction, infrastructure, mining, and energy sectors. He has advised U.S. and other companies on issues of public and private international law, investment and trade policy, and strategies for mitigating the risks associated with foreign investment. Christopher Ryan also serves as a Lecturer at the George Washington School of Law, where he teaches a course on international commercial arbitration.
Jesse Sherrett is a partner in the International Arbitration practice of Shearman & Sterling. Jesse has over a decade of experience representing private and public sector clients in some of the largest and most high-profile commercial arbitrations in the world. Jesse specializes in ‘bet the company’ complex multinational disputes arising out of major construction and development projects, strategic investments, large M&A transactions, and joint venture arrangements. These disputes arise out of several sectors including engineering and construction, power, oil & gas, mining, and private equity. Jesse’s disputes experience is truly global and includes arbitrations and court litigation arising out of the Americas, Europe, East Asia and the Middle East. Jesse has represented clients in arbitrations conducted under the ICC, LMAA, LCIA and National Hockey League Rules and has appeared before several state and federal courts in the United States.
Gerhard Rudolph is Managing Partner of South Africa and represents and advises clients on a wide range of contentious and risk management issues. He is typically mandated in civil litigation, arbitration proceedings and investigations in South Africa, across the African continent and beyond, representing clients in complex transactional, public law and regulatory disputes and enforcement proceedings. Gerhard has established a truly international practice over more than 25 years. His sector expertise covers mining, energy, and infrastructure, financial services as well as restructuring and insolvency. Gerhard has been ranked as a leading dispute resolution lawyer in legal directories for almost two decades. He is also regarded as one of the leading construction law specialists in South Africa and is consistently recognized for his work in insolvency and restructuring.
From 11:45 AM to 1 PM: Lunch and Networking - All registered CTMF 2024 workshop delegates are welcome to join us for lunch, networking and the evening Monday May 20 Welcome Reception - all at Shearman & Sterling's Conference Center at 599 Lexington Avenue
Lunch Sponsor: RESPEC; US Gold Corp.
III. Dave McLane, PE and Dan Kenny, Burns & McDonnell, Manager of Mining Construction: The Challenge of Delivering Projects as the Mining Industry Transitions to a Decarbonized World. Registration and lunch start at 11:45 AM, workshop starts at 1 PM, ends 4:30 PM. Registrants are welcome to attend Monday, May 20, 2024 Welcome Reception.
The Mining Industry is currently navigating a significant transformation driven by global decarbonization, critical mineral dependency, electrification, and net-zero targets. Additionally, a growing corporate focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) is guiding the industry to a cleaner and brighter future. This workshop will review:
* The challenges, best practices, and pitfalls for delivering projects to support the energy transition and ultimately meet corporate and global targets.
* Key financial and regulatory considerations for onsite power generation (gas and renewable), battery energy storage systems, and fleet electrification.
* Findings from recent mine site sustainability initiatives highlighting how existing plant operators are evaluating upgrades to their existing facilities to meet decarbonization, ESG, and critical minerals production.
* Partner selection is critical to provide a roadmap, ensure that once built projects meet corporate goals, and the project is executed in a way to recognize any credits, tax incentives, or loan/grant criteria.
* Once a project portfolio path is chosen a best practice approach to partnering with technology providers, OEM’s, and engineering/construction companies to fast-track project development to meet aggressive corporate goals.
* Mining companies understand that decarbonization is coming but with it not being core business often don’t understand how to implement projects on the mine site.
This workshop will provide several case study examples of how mining companies have implemented projects in the areas of renewable power (solar), water conservation, and battery storage.
Dave McLane is a registered professional engineer and the Mining Business Unit Manager at Burns & McDonnell, responsible for the direction and leadership of the Mining Department. He earned a Mining Engineering Degree from the University of Kentucky and an MBA with an emphasis in Finance from Arizona State University’s W.P. Carey School of Business. His 13 years of experience in the mining industry includes mine operations, engineering, green and brownfield projects, and construction in North America, South America, Africa, and Europe. Dave has recently led multiple projects evaluating solar and other renewable power generation options for mines in the Western US. Through these projects and working with Burns & McDonnell’s Solar EPC team, Dave has a firm understanding of the benefits and challenges of evaluating solar projects on the mine site.
Dan Kenny is Burns & McDonnell’s Manager of Mining Construction and provides oversight for the organization’s Design Build, EPC, and EPCM portfolio of projects. Dan holds a master's degree in civil engineering from Exeter University in the United Kingdom and has over 25 years of international heavy industrial EPC, Design-Build, EPCM, and self-perform construction project experience in the fields of mining, metals, minerals processing, manufacturing, chemicals, power, and highways. Dan’s extensive international mining project execution experience includes new mine infrastructure development, growth and sustaining capital projects, and facility program maintenance primarily working for Tier 1 and Tier 2 mining companies as a contractor partner in North America, South America, Australia, and Africa.
Below is a workshop from CTMF 2023 about Managing Construction Risks & Mitigating Consequences on Mining Projects led by Christopher Ryan, Partner of Shearman & Sterling and Jesse Sherrett, Partner of Shearman & Sterling.
IV - Gerald Whittle and Raziel Zisman, M.A., M.E.S., LL.M., Keith Whitechurch and Philip Bangerter: Whittle Consulting: Integrated Strategic Planning in Mining. Registration and lunch, start at ~11:45 AM, workshop starts at 1 PM, ends 4:30 PM. Registrants are welcome to attend Monday May 20, 2024 Welcome Reception.
Whittle Consulting are the leaders in the field of mine optimization and integrated strategic planning and are passionate about adding value to mining businesses while helping make them more responsive to environmental and social factors. Since 1999, Whittle Consulting has conducted over 180 Whittle Enterprise Optimization studies around the world. These have repeatedly shown that the Whittle approach improves the economics of mining projects and operations from 5%-35%, and in many cases substantially more. During the workshop, Whittle Consulting will provide a detailed outline of Integrated Strategic Planning, a comprehensive long-term plan for mining operations or individual mining projects. Whittle Consulting employs this unique Integrated Strategic Planning approach, including Activity Based Costing, Theory of Constraints and sustainability considerations, to conduct an Enterprise Optimization which simultaneously factors in all parts of the mining system to improve cash flow and capital growth over the life of mine. The workshop will also include past case studies and, looking ahead, the impact of new and emerging technologies (e.g., electrification, autonomous vehicles, coarse particle flotation, carbon modelling, etc.).
Gerald Whittle, CEO. In this role, Gerald undertakes optimization studies and model design, business analysis, management reporting and client presentations. He conducts Strategic Assessments and Enterprise Optimization studies for a range of major, midcap and junior mining companies. These studies have spanned almost all commodities, including pits and/or underground mining, complex minerals processing streams and marketing channels. As a recognized thought leader on mining optimization, prior to COVID, Gerald travelled the world delivering Whittle Consulting Integrated Strategic Planning seminars. Now migrated to an online format, the seminar challenges conventional thinking and bridges organizational silos. Gerald reveals the Whittle approach, showing how substantial opportunities for value enhancement for current or planned mining and minerals processing operations are created. A skilled communicator, Gerald brings together important lessons learnt in other industries including Activity Based Costing, Theory of Constraints and sustainability considerations. His knowledge sheds new light on the unique challenges of business planning and optimization for the minerals industry. Gerald is an economist, management accountant, financial controller, finance director with over 40 years of international business experience in business planning, analysis and change management.
Raziel Zisman, Partner & Leader, Sustainable Governance Initiative; Raziel is a lawyer, economist and environmentalist, engaged with the mining sector. He spearheads Whittle Consulting’s Sustainable Governance Initiative. This aims to integrate supervisory and regulatory functions of government with the Whittle Integrated Strategic Planning process. This will ensure more efficient and consistent outcomes in the mining sector, which Raziel views as instrumental for the sustainable development of many regions around the world. After growing up in Lima, Peru, Raziel read development economics at Sussex University in the UK. This was followed by a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School, in Canada. He also holds Masters degrees in economics, environmental studies and law. After clerking at the Supreme Court of Canada, he worked in the Toronto office of a leading American law firm in cross border financings, mergers & acquisitions and listings, in the mining, energy and other sectors. Later on, he held roles with major Canadian business-law firms, working primarily in the mining and natural resource sectors. Following his law practice, Raziel became directly involved in the mining industry. Raziel Zisman, M.A., M.E.S., LL.M. Partner & Leader, Sustainable Governance Initiative.
Keith Whitchurch, Partner: Keith has enjoyed a highly successful career in open cut and underground mining spanning almost 4 decades. Keith has a continuous and deep involvement in mining innovation and the application of mathematical techniques to mine modelling and optimization. Keith specializes in mine transformation and his expertise includes geological modelling, reserves evaluation, pit optimization, mine design, equipment selection, mine scheduling, backfill design and planning, project costing and economics. Keith holds a master's degree in Geostatistics and Resource classification that predates the JORC code. Keith has been a passionate early adopter of the use of cutting-edge technology in the mining industry. His first peer reviewed paper on the application of artificial intelligence in mining was presented at APCOM in 1996. Since 1985, Keith has been continuously involved in global Resource and Reserve estimation, across numerous commodities. For the past 30 years, Keith has authored reports that underpin over USD 15 Billion in transactions. He has stood as an expert witness on 3 continents and has realized order of magnitude transformations in mining projects all over the world.
Philip Bangerter, Regional Manager Australasia: Philip is a qualified Mineral Processing Engineer and Sustainability Specialist with over 40 years in the mining industry across multiple commodities. Based in Brisbane, but in a global role, Philip assists mining companies access the optimization services, software and implementation support provided by Whittle Consulting with special emphasis on study management, carbon modelling & sustainability. Prior to joining Whittle Consulting in 2016, Philip worked for 15 years for global consulting engineers, Hatch, in various roles covering technology commercialization, sustainability and project management. Philip used his technical expertise to develop and launch new mineral process equipment technologies, develop sustainability frameworks and manage studies for mining and metallurgical projects. In these roles, Philip guided tier-1, mid-cap and junior companies through project development and operational optimization strategies across Australasia, Southern Africa and South America. Philip’s passion is sustainability in mining. He was a key participant in the Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Resource Processing (CRSP), within which he co-developed the SUSOP (Sustainable Operations) framework. As a SUSOP specialist, Philip advocates the benefits of incorporating sustainable development principles into the planning, design and operation of industrial processing plants. He is pleased that the SUSOP philosophy can be integrated into Whittle Consulting Enterprise Optimization studies to achieve outstanding economic and sustainability outcomes.
Below is Graham Clow, P.Eng., Chairman & Principal Mining Engineer of RPA leading a CTMF 2017 workshop
Below is Michael Samis from SCM Decisions leading a CTMF 2019 workshop about the Impact of Political Risk
After the workshops on Monday, May 20, 2024 there will be a welcome reception from 5:30 to 8:00 PM. All registered Monday workshop delegates are included on the registration list to attend the Monday Welcome Reception. (Those of you wanting to only attend the Welcome Reception are able to register for that separately at the registration site). You do not have to attend the conference to register for any of the workshops or receptions.
Sponsored by: Big Rock Exploration; Blake Cassels & Graydon LLP; McCarl's Technical Services; McEwen Copper; McEwen Mining; Red Cloud Securities; Relevant Gold
The photo below is from a CTMF workshop. Get your questions answered. We invite you to join us!
Register to attend the workshops, receptions and or conference. We hope you can join us!
Register now to attend any of the workshops, the conference and evening receptions. You do not have to attend the conference to register to attend workshops or receptions. *Space is limited.
Photo below is of CTMF 2017 workshop by Simon Moores, CEO, Benchmark Minerals re Battery Metals Supply Chains
We hope to see you at
SME's 9th Current Trends in Mining Finance Conference
Seeking Certainty in an Uncertain World
Connecting Mining, Finance and Engineering Executives TM
Monday, May 20 - Wednesday, May 22, 2024
All workshop, conference and reception attendees must register in advance. Visit these tabs to learn more about receptions, suggestions for hotels and updates about the agenda and schedule changes.
We hope to see you there! Register early. *Space is limited. The organizers will monitor registrations and may need to close registration before the event. Registration closed early in 2018 and 2017. We may require some registered conference delegates to be present in a second board conference room that will have live video and audio feed to the main conference room or conference rooms and or to attend in a third board room to watch and hear via live audio/ visual feed. Additional rooms and space adjacent to the main conference room are places to relax, network, meet one on one for quiet shared conversations or work.