Abstract
Few major mining projects are completed on time/on budget and without significant claims and disputes arising between owners and contractors. If not properly managed, delays and cost overruns can stress the relationship between owner and contractor, leading to dueling and escalating claims and counterclaims, in turn leading to threats of, and actual, contract termination and/or dispute resolution. This can lead to more general distress (credit and otherwise) for the project and the owner and its funding sources.
In recent years, the emergence of new technology is changing how mining projects – and natural resource projects, more generally – are executed in ways that can improve efficiencies but also increase the risk of cost overruns and delays. Owners and contractors alike must be sensitive to the role that new technology plays – and will play – in the development, expansion, and maintenance of mining operations. Similarly, they must be sensitive to how commercial, technological, and regulatory changes can positively or negatively affect projects.
This panel will explore legal and practical strategies to assist mining companies in managing the risks and mitigating the losses and consequences which arise when there are significant delays and cost overruns during the development of a mining project, particularly for projects implementing new technologies.