Experience

Mining

• Represent privately-held mineral exploration company in due diligence and acquisition of patented lands, federal mining claims, severed surface rights from a Native corporation, and mineral rights from a separate Native corporation concerning a lithium prospect.
• Represent new entrant to mineral exploration in due diligence and acquisition of complex mineral rights package on State of Alaska lands.
• Represented lenders as Alaska counsel in $70 million secured credit facility to finance development of a gold mine.
• Represented Northern Star Resources as U.S. counsel in its acquisition of Pogo Mine, including due diligence on issues ranging from property rights, environmental and mine safety to employment and employee benefit plans. Oversaw a team assisting with entity creation and organization, transaction documents, employment issues, employee benefits, HSR filings, tax advice, supplemental stock offering, and changes to an existing credit facility.
• Represented junior exploration company in negotiating and documenting a complex joint venture arrangement with an Australian investor, including advising with respect to form and structure of the joint venture. The project involved multiple claim blocks and provided the investor with the ability to identify one claim block for development and earn a higher interest in that claim block, as well as a loan-carry arrangement to finance mine development of the preferred claim block.
• Represented Australian mining company with respect to due diligence for potential acquisition of an underground mine in the U.S., including diligence with respect to mineral tenure and surface use rights, environmental permitting, review of contracts, employee benefit plans, and water rights.
• Represented junior explorer in acquiring a 100-year-old entity that held certain State of Alaska mining claims, prepared title reports for brokered private placements, and advise regarding complex mineral tenure issues.

Oil & Gas

• Advised Alaska Native Corporation regarding rights to use improved state land in support of oil field development on Alaska’s North Slope in context of dispute with lessee/operator of state oil and gas leases.
• Seconded to in-house legal department of major oil and gas producing company on two separate occasions for a total of 15 months. Analysis of complex issues regarding title, encumbrances, and leasehold obligations; analysis of issues arising under unit agreements and joint operating agreements; assistance with unit expansion application; performance of due diligence for lease acquisition; assistance with sale of assets and related issues.
• Represented independent oil and gas company in obtaining necessary State of Alaska approvals to install new offshore natural gas production platform in Cook Inlet 16-mile pipeline and onshore gas processing facility.
• Assisted client in obtaining $160 million to finance installation of offshore infrastructure for natural gas development.
• Routinely prepare complex oil and gas title opinions for various companies in Alaska. Opinions cover leases on state, federal, and Native lands, offshore and onshore, for purposes of drilling, division order, acquisition, and financing.

Coastal Zone Management

• Obtained a favorable decision from the Secretary of Commerce in an appeal of objections made by two states to the consistency certification for an offshore seismic survey in the Atlantic Ocean. This was the first appeal to the Secretary under revised CZMA regulations.
• Alaska Coastal Management Program. Analyzed proposed citizens’ initiative to reinstate Alaska’s coastal management program and educated the campaign team on what the initiative would do, contrary to the proponents’ claims. The initiative was ultimately defeated.
• Advised client with respect to compliance with the Coastal Zone Management Act and the coastal management programs of seven Atlantic states in connection with an application to conduct a geophysical survey along approximately 1,000 miles of the U.S. Atlantic coastline.

Honors & Activities

• Included in The Best Lawyers in America^® (Oil & Gas Law), 2018–2023
• Selected as one of “America’s Leading Lawyers for Business” (Alaska) by Chambers USA (Natural Resources & Environment), 2019–2023
• Listed in the Alaska Business Legal Elite, 2023
• “Advocate of the Year,” Alaska Miners Association, 2018
• Trustee-At-Large, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, 2016–2018
• Board of Directors, Alaska Miners Association, 2015–present
• President, Alaska Association of Professional Landmen, 2015–2016 (also served as Vice President 2014–2015 and Past President 2016–2017)
• Mining Section Chair, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation 61st Annual Institute, 2015
• Special Institutes Committee, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, 2010–present
• President, Board of Trustees, Listen and Talk, 2008–2013 (Member of the Board 1998–2014)

Insights & Presentations

• “The legal right to mine” (co-author), North American Mining, 2023
• “Alaska Under Attack,” Mining and Land Resources Institute, 2023
• Oil and Gas Title Chaining Workshop, Alaska Association of Professional Landmen, 2023
• “It’s Mine! Securing Mineral Tenure in Alaska,” Short Course, Alaska Miners Association, 2022
• “The Energy Transition—Why We Need Mining Lawyers,” FNREL Young Natural Resources and Energy Lawyers Institutes, 2022
• “What’s Up in Alaska,” Mining and Land Resources Institute, 2022
• “What’s Happening in the Last Frontier,” Mining and Land Resources Institute, 2021
• “Alaska Update—The Australian Invasion and Mineral Tenure,” Mining and Land Resources Institute, 2020
• “Mineral Tenure Under SB 155,” Alaska Association of Professional Landmen, 2020
• “Alaska Lands and Mineral Interests” (co-author), 3 Am. L. of Mining, chs. 70-73, 2010, 2011 and 2016 updates
• “State Leases: A Panel Discussion,” RMMLF Special Institute on Drafting and Negotiating the Modern Oil & Gas Lease, 2018
• “Mineral Property Agreements—101,” AMA 2018 Fairbanks 26th Biennial Convention: Prospecting Alaska’s Future, 2018 (co-speaker)
• “Alaska Lands—An Overview of the North Slope,” ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc., 2017
• “What, Why, and How of Title Opinions,” Alaska Association of Professional Landmen, 2017
• “The Endangered Species Act Meets Alaska,” Alaska Oil & Gas Association Informational Seminar for the 30th Legislature, 2016
• “Severed Estates in Alaska—A Case Study,” Stoel Rives LLP, 2016
• “Title Opinions—Why Should I Care?” ConocoPhillips Alaska, Inc., 2015
• “Drilling With Other People’s Money: Liens, Liens, and More Liens, Everywhere and on Everything,” Alaska Association of Professional Landmen, 2014 (co-speaker)
• “Intralimital Rights In, Under, To, and Respecting Lands Within Unpatented Federal Mining Locations,” Advanced Mineral Title Examination—Oil & Gas and Mining, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, 2014 (co-author and co-speaker)
• “Alaska’s Constitutional Natural Resource Provisions and REDOIL, Was This the Framer’s Intent?” Law Seminars International, 2013
• “ORRIs in Passing: Transfers Upon the Death of the Owner,” Alaska Association of Professional Landmen, 2013 (co-speaker)
• “Muddy Water, Section 404 Jurisdiction,” Mining in Alaska: Law, Permitting Issues and Current Trends, The Seminar Group, 2013
• “Underwater in Alaska, Who Owns What?” Alaska Association of Professional Landmen, Anchorage, Alaska, 2012
• “Resolving Conflicts Between Oil and Gas and Renewable Energy Development,” Renewable Energy World Conference, Tampa, Florida, 2011

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