Shearman & Sterling’s Mining and Metals Group hosted an inaugural New York/D.C. Women in Mining event on January 11, 2018. The event was held at the Stanford White Studio at the Lambs Club in New York and featured a fireside chat with Cassie Boggs (General Counsel of Resource Capital Funds and member of the Board of Directors of Hecla Mining) and Sybil Veenman (Member of the Board of Directors of Royal Gold, IAMGOLD and Noront), followed by a cocktail reception. Opening remarks were delivered by partner Cynthia Urda Kassis (New York-Project Development & Finance/Head of the Mining and Metals Group) and closing remarks by partner Patricia Hammes (Washington, DC-Project Development & Finance).

During the discussion, Cassie and Sybil shared their insights about the evolution of the mining industry and the increasing importance of social license issues. Cassie talked about her experience serving as President and CEO of Barrick’s joint venture in Pakistan (Tethyan Copper Company) and as interim Regional President for their African business unit. Sybil also discussed her experience working at Barrick, where she served most recently on the Senior Leadership Team as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. A lively Q&A followed their discussion.

The discussion and cocktails were attended by multiple representatives from a number of commercial banks, government offices, companies and consultants all focused on the mining sector. The Mining and Metals Group hopes to organize another Women in Mining Event in the spring.