Simon Fraser is a corporate partner and heads up the Blake Dawson Adelaide office
What qualifications do you hold?
Bachelor of Laws from the University of Western Australia. Admissions in Western Australia, High Court, England, Wales, New York and South Australia. I'm also a qualified snow board instructor.
How did you get into mining?
I started out as a banking lawyer, which took me from WA to London and then to Singapore. I took an early interest in resources and energy transactions and after five years putting together finance deals around the world I moved to New York and to the world of M&A. A few years later I left the law to take up a senior commercial role with one of my clients, a global power company based in Washington DC. On returning to Australia I was keen to continue with the resources and energy space. Western Australia was the perfect place to do this, and I joined Blake Dawson in Perth. When the opportunity to go to BHP Billiton on secondment came up, I grabbed it. Since then I have been focused primarily in the resources and energy area.
Your biggest career high?
Leading the Blake Dawson team to assist BHP Billiton with the planned expansion of its giant Olympic Dam copper, uranium, gold and silver mining operation in South Australia. This involves the development of the largest open pit mine in Australia along with ore processing facilities and supporting infrastructure. Projects on this scale create unique challenges that call for sophisticated and novel solutions.
How is the current global market affecting work?
The unpredictability of commodity prices in the short-and-medium term, combined with restricted access to funding caused by the contagion in the credit markets, has put the brakes on spending for many resource development projects. However, a number of larger projects and interesting infrastructure development projects are still moving ahead, taking advantage of the more favourable procurement environment. The current conditions are also promoting consolidation and opportunistic inbound (and other) investments in the sector.
What do you think it takes to succeed in the mining practice?
Commerciality. Large mining projects are complex and challenging. Clients are sophisticated and have high expectations of advisors and their technical capability. A successful lawyer in this area has the ability to understand the client's business and goals, and keep those considerations front of mind.
