In this podcast, Africa Legal’s Thomas Pearson chats to Robert Botha, CEO and founding member of Integrated Mining Solutions (INMISO) Consulting, ahead of the Mining Indaba taking place in Cape Town, South Africa from 9 to 12 May. Robert Botha held diverse legal and commercial positions at some top mining companies before starting INMISO Consulting, a uniquely structured firm that provides cutting edge, streamlined and cost-efficient solutions to their clients. Together with his team of experts, their collective experience tallies more than 100 years. In the podcast Botha provides insight into current affairs in the industry and says he believes the underestimation of how valuable it is to include in-house general counsel from the onset of a major project is still a perennial issue. He says 99% of the time mining houses forget to address the legal hurdles they will need to jump through, especially in such an overregulated sector. “That obviously has a huge knock-on effect on the actual project. Not only in terms of your timeline and the milestones you must meet, but it has a huge impact on the npv (net present value) of that project,” he explained. Botha advises that in-house general counsel be included on projects from the feasibility stage to mitigate potential risks and save on costs. He is of the view that in-house general counsel is often slowed down with run of the mill, voluminous work, some of which can be outsourced to legal service providers. Botha tells Tom how the industry has grappled with the pandemic and the dilemma of vaccinations for those who work in offices in comparison to those working on site. The discussion then focuses on INMISO Consultancy’s journey and the strides it has made. Botha says their offering has grown into a multidisciplinary mining entity and their focus is on adding value for clients through their team of experts. In addition, they have developed a mineral rights management technology tool. The conversation wraps up with Botha predicting what the most pressing issues will be for in-house general counsel in the next five years. He says environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues will continue to play a major role and wants to see the implementation of plans and programmes, not just for the sake of ticking boxes – a topic likely to be deliberated on at the Mining Indaba.
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