Cynthia Urda Kassis is Head of the Metals & Mining practice and is a partner in the Project Development & Finance practice.

She focuses on project finance, joint venture transactions and restructuring in the mining, energy and infrastructure industries.

Cynthia’s clients include major financial institutions, corporations, government agencies, and numerous regional development banks and export credit agencies.

• Orion Resource Partners and The Blackstone Group, as lenders and investors, in the debt and equity financing of approximately $400 to $450 million of the Fruta del Norte gold and silver mining project in Ecuador
• Romarco Minerals and its subsidiary, Haile Gold Mine, Inc., on the development and project financing for its Haile Gold Mine project in South Carolina
• Lenders on the financing by Navajo Transitional Energy Company LLC for its acquisition of a coal mine on the Navajo reservation
• Pueblo Viejo Dominicana Corporation, a joint venture between Barrick Gold and Goldcorp Inc., on the $1.035 billion project financing for the gold/copper resource in the Dominican Republic, comprising of the reopening of the existing open pit gold mine  as well as the development of related infrastructure 
• Lenders on multiple aspects of the proposed $7.33 billion Gasoducto Sur Perúano project, a more than 1,000 km gas pipeline in Peru. This was one of the largest infrastructure projects to come to market in the history of Peru’s energy sector
• Transmisora Eléctrica del Norte on the financing of its double circuit 600 km 500 kV transmission line connecting the two major electrical grids in Chile
• Ecopetrol on a: $300 million loan from Export Development Canada (EDC); $175 million loan from MUFG; and a loan from Scotiabank
• Sasol on its 50/50 joint venture with INEOS to construct, finance, own and operate a high-density polyethylene plant in LaPorte, Texas
• BNDES on the $1.6 billion project financing of the Chaglla project, a 406 MW hydroelectric power generation plant in Peru
• Lenders on the financing of the $2.8 billion acquisition of Skyway Concession Company, which operates, manages and maintains the Chicago Skyway toll road under a 99-year lease pursuant to a P3 with the City of Chicago
• DOT on the loan for the construction of the Moynihan Train Hall Redevelopment Project in New York, a state-of-the-art train station that will deliver critical improvements and ease congestion in the Northeast corridor rail service
• DOT on the restructuring loan made to SH130 Concession Company LLC and SH130’s bankruptcy proceeds related to the Texas State Highway 130 project
• DOT on the loan for the US 36 Managed Lanes/Bus Rapid Transit Project in Colorado
• EDC on a $140 million financing, of an approximately $300 million co-financing with the ExIM Bank for the Space-Communication Ltd. AMOS 6-satellite program

Awards & Accolades

• Ranked Band 1 for Projects and Latin American Investment by Chambers USA (2017); Band 1 Latin America-wide for Projects and Energy and Natural Resources, and Band 2 Latin America-wide for Banking & Finance by Chambers Latin America (2016)
• Named a Leading Lawyer for Project Finance by The Legal 500 US (2017) and for Projects and Energy by The Legal 500 Latin America (2016)
• Cynthia is ranked as a Leading Individual by Who’s Who Legal (2016) for both Project Finance and Mining
• Clients tell Chambers & Partners that “[Cynthia]’s an excellent lawyer with a good understanding of business,” “excellent in terms of attention to the client and responsiveness,” that she is “a very high-quality project finance lawyer,” and “phenomenally talented.”