Florencia Heredia is partner at Allende & Brea, Head of the Natural Resources & Energy practice. Florencia Heredia is partner of Allende & Brea, head of the Natural Resources & Energy practice. She is an expert in mining law with 32 years extensive experience advising financing institutions and companies in complex mining and energy transactions in Argentina, having repeatedly represented lenders in all mining project finance taken place in the country.
She obtained her law degree with honors (summa cum laude) from Universidad Católica Argentina in 1991 and obtained also with honors (summa cum laude) a Masters degree on Business Law from Universidad Austral in 1995. She has a degree also with honors (summa cum laude) on corporate sustainability from IESC (Instituto de Estudios para la Sustentabilidad Corporativa). She has been researcher in the Doctorate program of Universidad Austral on the areas of natural resources and environmental law.
She was founder of HOLT Abogados (2008-2017) natural resources boutique law firm and prior to that member of Estudio Beccar Varela (1992-2008) for 16 years, where she headed during 9 years the natural resources and environmental law department. During 1997 she worked for Beiten Burkhardt Mittl & Wegener (today Beiten Burkhardt) one of the leading German law firms based in Münich with offices in other countries. For such law firm she also worked in the Moscow and St. Petesbourg offices mainly in connection with energy, natural resources and environmental related projects.
For 32 years she has been very active assisting mining companies that have established in Argentina. She actively participated in the financing of the Bajo de la Alumbrera Project, the Cerro Vanguardia Project, and led the financing of the Veladero Project being all the major mining 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 represented for many years Rio Tinto especially in connection with the Potasio Rio Colorado project, then acquired by Vale.
In recent years Florencia has oriented her practice to the social aspects of the extractive industries as well and has been able to include these views in complex transactions and negotiations.
She is an active member of the International Bar Association, where she held the position of Chair of the Mining Law Committee (2014-2015), she is currently Chair of Seeril (Section of energy, environment, natural resources and infrastructure law). She has been Trustee at Large of the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, for which she also served as Secretary to the Board (2014-2015), member of the Executive Committee of the International Women Forum (Argentinean Chapter) among other relevant entities. She is member of the Academic Board of RADHEM in Argentina, publication specialized in Energy and Natural Resources.
She was Visiting Professor at Denver University, Colorado, USA were she taught “Comparative Latinamerican Mining Law” at the Environmental and Natural Resources Law and Policy Graduate Course directed by Professor Don Smith. She has been Professor at the School of Law for Public Officers in Argentina (Escuela de Abogados del Estado) where she taught the Mining and Environmental Law course. She is currently professor at the Austral University, Argentina, for the Pre Master course where she teaches Mining Law and at the Universidad Catolica de Cuyo, Argentina, at the Masters in Mining Business Management. She is also professor at the Universidad Catolica Argentina, Masters Degree in Environmental Law course. She is currently guest lecturer at the Energy and Natural Resources Program of Dundee University, UK.
As of 2018 she is member of the Advisory Board to the Law School of Universidad Torcuato di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
As of 2021 she is member of the Academic Council of REDMIN (Red Latinoamericana de Derecho Minero).
She is a member of the International Affairs Committee of PDAC (Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada).
She is an active member of the Argentinean Canadian Chamber of Commerce for which she is member of the Mining Group. She was board member of the City of Buenos Aires Bar Association (Colegio de Abogados de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires) (2020-2021).
She is board member of the City of Buenos Aires Bar Association (Colegio de Abogados de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires).
She was awarded as co-author the 2021 Willoughby Prize for the article named “The importance of lithium for achieving a low-carbon future: overview of the lithium extraction in the ‘Lithium Triangle’” She is co author and contributed with a chapter titled“The important role of mining within the energy transition: the case of the lithium sector in Argentina”within the book“From Fossil Fuels to Low Carbon Energy Transition- New Regulatory Trends in Latin America”(recently published by Palgrave Macmillan available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-00299-1_8).
She regularly participates in governmental delegations for the mining sector as well as collaborating with several foreign governmental agencies related to the energy and mining industries.
She has been constantly nominated as a leading mining lawyer and star individual by Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 (Halle of Fame), etc and has been included in the lists of main mining lawyers of the world by Who’s Who Editions in the last fifteen years, being recipient of the Mining Lawyer of the Year award for 2013, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 and permanently one of the highlighted women in the Women in Law reviews.
