Team > Lawyers > Baldwin, Chris
Chris advises on acquisitions and dispositions of mines and mining companies, project development and mine operations throughout Canada and the world. He has assisted in the structuring and negotiation of hundreds of transactions, including farm-ins and joint ventures, corporate acquisitions and mergers and royalty sales. He has extensive experience with all legal aspects of the development, construction and financing of mines (including diamonds, coal and uranium), royalties, marketing contracts, ore sales contracts, impact benefit agreements with Aboriginals and environmental and regulatory matters. His practice includes acting as an expert witness in mining-related litigation.
Recognition and Ranking
- Lexpert Leading 500 Lawyers in Canada: recognized for mining law every year since 1999
- Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory: most frequently recognized as a Leading Practitioner for mining law
- Best Lawyers in Canada: recognized for natural resources law
- International Who’s Who Legal: recognized as one of the twenty most highly regarded globally, for mining law
- Lexpert Leading US/Canada Cross-Border Corporate Lawyers in Canada: recognized for international transactions in the mining industry
- Chambers Global: recognized as a “Leader in his Field” in the category “Energy & Natural Resources: Mining (Canada)”
- Expert Guides: recognized as a leading lawyer in the area of energy and natural resources
Professional Activities
- BC and Yukon Chamber of Mines, Member
- Board of Trustees of Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation and Form 5 Revision Committee, Former Member
- Foundation’s Mineral Law Newsletter, Currently the “reporter” covering Canada
- Chris has lectured and taught extensively about the law related to mining, independent power development and forestry and corporations law.
Community Activities
- Vancouver Playhouse Society, Former Director
- Anna Wyman Dance Theatre Society, Former Director
- Coach and/or manager of minor hockey, soccer and baseball teams
Bar Admissions
- Nunavut (1999)
- Northwest Territories (1994)
- British Columbia (1977)
Education
- University of Toronto (J.D., 1976)
- University of Alberta (B.A., 1973)
Personal Interests
Chris was a bronze medallist in the 1999 Iron Butt Motorcycle Rally, billed as the “World’s Toughest Motorcycle Rally!”
Experience
- Represented a Consortium of Korean companies on a strategic investment in a copper mine in Mexico
- Represented the seller of a portfolio of royalties on mineral properties in Spain, Tasmania, Australia, the United States and Canada
- Represented the seller of a royalty on a Mexican silver mine
- Represented the seller of royalties on oil and gas and mining properties to a corporation to provide the basis for the largest IPO in the mining sector in Canada in 2007 and the largest mining-sector IPO in North American history
- Represented a U.S. corporation in a successful takeover of a Canadian public gold mining company
- Continued representation of the operator of a diamond mine in the Northwest Territories in the Canadian Arctic
- Continued representation of a company developing a gold mine in Nunavut in the Eastern Arctic
- Continued representation of a company developing a copper mine in the Yukon
- Represented a Canadian company in the negotiation of private royalties on a mine in Colombia
- Represented the seller of a silver mine under development in Peru
- Represented the purchaser of a nickel mine under development in Russia
- Represented the developer of a nickel mine in Brazil in connection with the negotiation of an engineering, procurement and construction management contract
- Continued representation of the operator of a coal mine in British Columbia
- Represented the seller of a past-producing molybdenum mine in British Columbia
- Represented the seller of a copper/gold mine under development in British Columbia
- Represented the seller of potash assets in Canada to a large Brazilian purchaser
News / Publications
Mining Law Update (Spring 2010)
"Canadian Mining Law" co-authored with Johanna Fipke, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Mining Law Short Course, Boulder, Colorado (May 11-15, 2009)
Mining Law Update (Spring 2009)
Mergers & Acquisitions for the Mining Industry, The Canadian Institute, Toronto, Ontario (December 9, 2008), Co-chair
Mining Law Update (Spring 2008)
Mining Law Update (Winter 2008)
Dealing With Mining Legacy - Some Canadian Approaches (April 16, 2007)
Mining Law Update (Winter 2007)
National Instrument 43-101: Amendments to Canadian Rules Concerning Mineral Project Disclosure and Technical Reports (August 16, 2006)
Selling the Crown Jewels: Diamond Royalties and Marketing Agreements in Canada, co-authored with Peter Webster, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation Annual Institute (January 29, 2005)
Comparing Royalties: NSR vs. NPI
Understanding Royalty Structures, Conference Board of Canada (February 2003)
