Florencia Heredia

Latin Lawyer Reference

Florencia Heredia is senior partner at HOLT Abogados. She is an expert in mining law with extensive experience advising financing institutions and companies in complex mining transactions in Argentina, and has repeatedly represented lenders in all mining project finance taken place in Argentina.

She obtained her law degree with honors (summa cum laude) from the Catholic University of Argentina in 1991 and obtained also with honors (summa cum laude) a Masters degree on Business Law from the Austral University on 1995. She has a degree on Corporate Sustainability from the IESC (Instituto de Estudios para la Sustentabilidad Corporativa). She is currently researcher in the Doctorate program of the Austral University on the areas of natural resources and environmental law.

She had been member of Estudio Beccar Varela for more than sixteen years, where she was during nine years the head of the natural resources and environmental law departments. During 1997 she worked for Beiten Burkhardt Mittl & Wegener (today Beiten Burkhardt) a German law firm based in Münich and with offices all around the world. For such law firm she also worked in the Moscow and St. Petesbourg offices mainly in connection with energy and environmental related projects.

For 19 years she has been very active assisting mining companies that have established in Argentina. She has actively participated in the financing of the Bajo de la Alumbrera Project, the Cerro Vanguardia Project and has led the financing of the Veladero Project among the main projects that have been financed in the country. She led the Trillium Project which was a binational (Argentinean and Chilean) forestry project located in the Patagonia area. She has been for many years –until all assets were sold in Argentina in 2009- the main legal advisor for Rio Tinto and specifically in connection with the Potasio Rio Colorado project which is now owned by Vale. She also practices on the agricultural, fishing, forestry and environmental areas.

She has been lecturer in several conferences and seminars in Canada, US, Germany and Latinamerica, including her participation as member and lecturer of several delegations of the Argentinean governement that promote abroad mining and natural resources investments and has excellent connections with all relevant governmental agencies.

She is an active member of the Argentine-German Law Association; AIJA: Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats; International Bar Association (where she holds the position of Senior Vice Chair of the Mining Committee and has also been appointed member of the Latin American Forum), she has been Trustee at Large of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, member of IMPS (International Mining Professionals Society); FUNDAMIN (Argentinean foundation for the development of the mining industry) and member and founder of the Latinamerican Mining Lawyers Association among other relevant entities. She is also Chair of the Environmental Law Committee of the City of Buenos Aires Bar Association.

She is Visiting Professor at Denver University, Colorado, USA were she teaches “Comparative Latinamerican Mining Law” at the Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy Graduate Course directed by Professor Don Smith. She is Professor of the Mining and Environmental Law course at the School of Law for Public Officers in Argentina.

She has been constantly nominated by different publications as a leading mining lawyer eg. the Latin Lawyer Mining Survey and has been included in the list of the main 20 mining lawyers of the world by Who’s Who Edition 2008 and as one of the best 10 mining lawyers of the world by Who’s Who Edition 2010-2011.

She has been awarded by Chambers and Partners as star individual and one of the Argentinean leading natural resources lawyers indistinctively for the past ten years.

Florencia speaks Spanish, English, Italian, German and Russian.