Mining Law
Legal & Strategic Services
Andrew is a mining lawyer practicing mining law in Canada. Andrew routinely drafts option, purchase and Net Smelter Returns (NSR) royalty agreements. He handles a wide range of transactional and regulatory matters, government relations, First Nations matters and dispute resolution, for the exploration, mining and mineral processing sectors.
Andrew has been the lead lawyer for numerous projects involving critical and strategic minerals and critical and strategic mineral supply chains. Andrew is active for companies with projects in Northern Ontario, Saskatchewan, the Northwest Territories, Manitoba and other parts of Canada. Andrew has worked on projects and royalty agreements involving nearly all mineral commodity types including gold, uranium, copper, nickel, lithium, silica sand and much more. Andrew is both a Manitoba mining lawyer and an Ontario mining lawyer licenced in both provinces.
Andrew has 20 years' post-Call experience (LSO July 2005). In addition to his private sector experience, he has worked as a senior political advisor for federal cabinet ministers, in provincial public appointments, in the federal public service, as an energy and climate change consultant and as a defense contractor. Andrew sees files from the perspective of more than a lawyer. He is ideal for major projects and projects that involve the public-private interface and complex problems with both legal and non-legal aspects.
Andrew’s clients are exploration companies, operating miners, large private equity interests, publicly traded and private companies at all stages, First Nations mining proponents, shareholders and subsurface optionors.
As part of a team, Andrew has played a key role in a financing for an operating miner worth over $200M U.S., a successful proxy contest leading to a change in board and executive management composition for a publicly-traded mining company, and numerous transactions in the tens and hundreds of millions of dollars.
In addition to drafting option agreements and approximately 100 NSRs to date, Andrew has advised an operating miner on all aspects of the planning and building of a hydro substation and distribution lines for a new mine, with the route cutting across Crown land, a Northern municipality and private land. He has advised mineral exploration companies on permitting and tenure matters for projects in provincial parks. He has advised mining companies on power purchase agreements, easements and rights-of-way. For projects requiring a team, Andrew works sometimes as part of whatever larger team drawn from his extensive network may be required.
Andrew holds Certificates in P3s and Mining Law from Osgoode Hall Professional Development and an LL.M. in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School (2004). Andrew graduated with degrees in the civil and common law from McGill (B.C.L. & LL.B. 2002), a top 20 global university. The Province of Manitoba named Andrew their Vice Chair for the Expert Advisory Council on the Province’s climate and green plan (2018-2023), which includes work on ZEVs. The Province of Manitoba also appointed Andrew to the provincial Manitoba Liaison Committee on Mining and Exploration (MLCME) (2019-2022) and Andrew participated in a multi-sector Battery Metals Roundtable for the Government of Ontario.
Andrew has been married for over 20 years and enjoys spending time with his family, hiking, paddling, camping, cross-country skiing and lifting weights when he is not practicing law.
