Iain Duncan is head of the Energy, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Projects group at Simmons & Simmons, having worked there for the past 15 years. He has extensive experience of advising on projects/transactions around the world in the mining sector and has spent six months on secondment at a natural resources major.
He has acted upon a wide range of projects, joint ventures, acquisitions/disposals, financings and offtake arrangements, as well as on development/investment agreements with host governments. Clients note that Iain “has a good understanding of projects and attendant risks, and he is good at finding solutions to problems” (Chambers and Partners 2014), he “is really driven, works night and day on deals and is great on the documents” (Chambers and Partners 2016), and is “diligent and experienced and a lawyer who listens well and understands” (Chambers and Partners 2017). He regularly speaks at or chairs international conferences in the energy and natural resources sector and also sits on the Council for MinSouth (the London based society for the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining).
His recent experience includes advising: Orion Resource Partners on its acquisition of the SASA lead and zinc project in Macedonia, including in relation to offtake and financing arrangements; a buyer on diligence of mining assets in Serbia; and an international company on its bid to secure lignite mining rights in Kosovo.