The technical case for a mining project can be sound but the operating landscape can still kill it.
I work on the political, social and communications dimensions of mining — the side that determines whether development keeps moving, builds momentum, or quietly accumulates risk.
My background is in critical minerals in Latin America. I've done fieldwork in the Amazon, authored Brazil's Critical & Strategic Minerals in a Changing World report (Igarapé, 2023), and spent years tracking the licensing politics, Indigenous organisations, and territorial dynamics that shape mineral frontiers before ESG frameworks detect them.
When this work matters
New regulatory signals are emerging and it's unclear what they mean in practice
Indigenous or community claims are gaining momentum and the picture on the ground is changing
Narratives are building externally, in civil society, media, or policy, that could affect market positioning or investor confidence
Local alliances are shifting and it's hard to know who actually influences decisions
An ESG or supply chain framework is demanding evidence you don't yet have
Something feels like it's building slowly, and you want to understand it before it surfaces
What I do
Intelligence and understanding the landscape
Who holds real influence, formal and informal
Where friction or pushback may emerge, and why
What political and regulatory shifts mean in practice for your operations
How narratives are forming locally and internationally
How local realities meet global ESG and supply chain expectations
The Amazon rainforest’s mineral frontiers
Three years tracking licensing politics, understanding Indigenous organisations, territorial control, and conflict dynamics in the Amazon. Insights shared with policymakers, investors, and sector stakeholders on the risk signals and land governance pressures relevant to critical mineral expansion.
EU and UK clean tech supply chains
Work with major philanthropic foundations on the politics of clean tech supply chains and industrial decarbonisation. Mapped the incentives and narratives shaping mineral procurement, traceability rules, and 'low-risk' sourcing frameworks, increasingly relevant for mining companies entering EU and US markets.
Cameroon and supply chain governance
Investigations of a supply chain held together by workarounds and overlapping informal authorities, not formal structures. Mapped how decisions were really made. Donors and government received politically feasible institutional reform and investment options, what to push, what to avoid, and where change was actually possible.
Who I work with? Mining leadership, investors, permitting and land teams, and supply chain strategy groups working with critical minerals exposure, particularly across Brazil and Latin America, Western Africa, and supply chains feeding EU, Chinese, UK and US markets.