Eur.Ing. Professor COLIN ROBERTS LL.M Resources Law & Policy (Dundee), P.G.Dip. International Commercial Arbitration (QMULondon), B.Eng Mining Engineering (WASM-Curtin), P.Eng, C.Eng, C.Pet.Eng, C.Sci, FIMMM, FEI, FSAIMM, FAIE, FAusIMM(CP), FCIArb, FDBF, FAVE(Master), MAIA, MCIM, MIEAust, SPE, SME possesses over 40 years of multi-disciplinary resource industry experience.
As well as philanthropic activities, Professor Colin Roberts practices as an international arbitrator, adjudicator and mediator, international resources geo-strategist, petro-strategist and was authorised emissary for the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) – World Bank Group. He is a member of Raffles Chambers, London as well as being a director of Natural Resource Geo-Strategy (NRG) advising governments on resources policy and foreign direct investment as well as advising transnational corporations on political risk mitigation; Resource Dispute Resolution (RDR) and the Centre for International Dispute Resolution (CIDR). He is a Professor (in the fields of public international law, international comparative law, Resources law and international dispute resolution) at WASM: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering at the Faculty of Science and Engineeringat Curtin University, and has directed the LLM programme in International Dispute Management at the Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy (CEPMLP), University of Dundee.
Professor Roberts’ current interests include, but are not limited to the fields resources law and policy and mitigation of sovereign risk, international commercial and investment arbitration; alternative dispute resolution (ADR); natural resource exploration and exploitation; major project development; foreign direct investment (FDI) in the developing world; international trade and investment law; transnational business; competition law; law of the sea; governance and globalisation. His major geographical regions of interest and expertise are: Africa; Europe; Central, Southern and Eastern Asia and the Australia-Pacific.
Prior to his current positions, he has been the general manager/partner of RSG Global/Coffey Mining; the Centre for International Dispute Resolution and Management (CIDRAM); the deputy director and commercial director of the CEPMLP, University of Dundee; director of the CEPMLP MBA Programme in Resource Management; leader of the CEPMLP Africa Programme, director of the CEPMLP LLM Programme in International Dispute Resolution and Management and adviser in his areas of expertise, to the Commonwealth Secretariat, London.
In addition to the above, he is a member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA); the International Bar Association (IBA): Section on Energy, Environmental, Natural Resources & Infrastructure Law and Dispute Resolution; the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN); the American Arbitration Association (AAA) Panel of Neutrals, Energy Arbitrators List and the Human Rights Institute (HRI).
For the past seven years, Professor Roberts has served the Pakistan Prime Minister’s Secretariat as the Pakistan Honorary Investment Consul in Australia and serves as a committee member of the International Bar Association (IBA) – IBA Rules on Investor-State Mediation; member of the Asia-Pacific Advisory Council for the Dispute Board Federation Genève; past president of the Mining Institute of Scotland (MIS), the Scottish Branch of the Institution of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IMMM); the Western Australian branch executive of the Australian Mining and Petroleum Law Association (AMPLA); national councillor of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb); past-chairman of the Western Australian Chapter of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (SPE); past-chairman of the Western Australian Branch of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) and director of the Western Australian Branch of the Australasian Institute of Energy (AIE).
He has formerly served in other executive positions of various professional Institutions such as: the AusIMM in Ghana; the SPE in Aberdeen, Scotland; the Scottish Oil Club; the Petroleum Education and Training Association; the management board of the Dundee and Angus Oil Venture Group (DAOVG); the Institute of Engineers (IEAust) in Kalgoorlie, Australia; the Australian Drilling Industry Association (ADIA); Austmine Ltd; the Australasian Mineral Drilling Association (AMDA) and the Tanzania Exploration and Mining Association (TEMA), working on Industry recommendations for the Tanzanian Mining Code. In addition, he has served as an expert witness in the fields of petroleum, mining, exploration and drilling engineering.
It has been his honour to represent Australia in a diplomatic capacity, acting as the Australian Consular Warden in Zambia. His name has also been recommended to the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, as both an arbitrator and a scientific expert relating to natural resources and/or the environment.
Professor Roberts is proud to have made some milestone achievements in his career: notably his involvement advising in the early stages of peace negotiations between the government of the Republic of Sudan and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) and the Northern Democratic Alliance (NDA); the key driver in the CEPMLP winning the “Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade”; as successful mediator facilitating the settlement of a US$311 million claim, in one of the first major Investor – State Mediations, and numerous negotiations on behalf of a sovereign states to secure FDI. The most recent negotiations were for two major resource projects with initial investment valued at US$5 billion and US$18 billion respectively, of which, the former is complete and the latter is approaching finalisation.
Professor Roberts dedicates a great proportion of his time attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) to host-states susceptible to the poverty trap that threatens systemic terrorism and poor governance. He argues that FDI, made attractive through treaties and viable dispute resolution mechanisms therein, should in turn; create an environment where poverty, terror and subsequent unrest in all its forms are rendered irrelevant. He contributes 25% of his time pro bono publico, and works in common, civil and Shari’ah legal jurisdictions in close association with colleagues in Australia, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, Mauritania, Pakistan, Bulgaria, Uganda, Kosovo and Somalia.
Receiving his engineering qualifications from the Western Australian School of Mines – Curtin University in Australia as a recipient of the prestigious AusIMM Tertiary Scholarship, Professor Roberts can practice globally, and has been conferred the professional title Eur.Ing. by the Fédération Européenne d’Associations Nationales d’Ingénieurs (FEANI). He is a Chartered Professional Engineer and Chartered Scientist in the disciplines of Mining and Petroleum Engineering in the UK, and Professional Engineer in Australia, USA and various African and Asian countries. He gained an LL.M (Master of Laws) in Resources Law and Policy at the CEPMLP – University of Dundee, a Post Graduate Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration at the Queen Mary College – University of London, Accreditation as an International Civil and Commercial Mediator from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), London and European & International Competition Law at Churchill College – Cambridge.
After military service, Professor Roberts started his 40-plus year career in architecture and major construction. He later entered the resource industry as a drill crewmember, working his way up through the ranks to board level. Professor Roberts was involved in the discovery and development of numerous world-class mineral and petroleum deposits. Subsequently, he spent five years in academia at Curtin University’s Western Australian School of Mines, studying and lecturing in mining, petroleum and core engineering subjects. The remaining years were spent mainly in the drilling and production sector, working as an engineer at various levels in design, operational, managerial and executive positions negotiating and directing major projects with values exceeding US$1 billion (NPV) in the mining and petroleum industries throughout the Australia-Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East, Central, Southern and Eastern Asia, with the six years prior to the CEPMLP, as managing director and general manager of a Layne Christensen, a world major resources services company throughout Africa.
Through his Chaimanship of Salternas Ltd (https://www.salternas.org), Professor Roberts is currently directing a major humanitarian project in Somaliland, Somalia. Overall, Somalia has some 388,000 acutely malnourished children in need of critical nutritional support, including life-saving treatment for more than 87,000 severely malnourished children. The project intends to provide enough food, fresh water and fodder to exceed Somalia’s requirements.
Professor Roberts has served, and is serving on the boards of numerous companies, some of which are listed below:
– Geo-strategy International Pty Ltd – Managing Director
– Salternas Ltd (Australia) & Salternas GmbH (Germany)
– Natural Resource Geo-Strategy Pty Ltd – Managing Director
– Resource Dispute Resolution Pty Ltd – Managing Director
– Centre for International Dispute resolution – Chairman
– Centre for International Dispute Resolution and Management (CIDRAM) – Director
– RSG Global/Coffey Mining – General Manager/Director
– Austmine Ltd – Director
– Australasian Mineral Drilling Association Inc – Director;
– Baraka Petroleum Ltd (ASX), – Non-Executive Director
– Equigold N.L., Côte d’Ivoire – Director;
– J.K. Smit & Sons (Diamond Tools) Australia Pty. Ltd – Director;
– Natural Resource Globalisation Consultants Pty. Ltd – Managing Director
– Occiori Drilling Consultants Pty Ltd – Managing Director;
– RBC Pty Ltd, a group of Oilfield Companies – Managing Director.
– Resource Dispute Resolution Ltd – Non-Executive Chairman
– Stanley Mining Services (Zambia) Ltd – Managing Director;
– Stanley Mining Services (Zimbabwe) Ltd – Managing Director;
– Stanley Mining Services (Mali) Ltd – Managing Director;
Colin’s interests include, but are not limited to the fields of resources policy and mitigation of sovereign risk, international commercial and investment arbitration; alternative dispute resolution (ADR); natural resource exploration and exploitation; major project development; foreign direct investment in the developing world; international trade and investment law; transnational business; competition law; law of the sea; governance and globalisation. His major geographical regions of interest and expertise are: Africa; Europe; Central, Southern and Eastern Asia and the Australia-Pacific.
He can be contacted at:
- Tel: +61 (0)437 483 479
- E-mail: colin@colinroberts.com
- Website: www.colinroberts.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/prof-colin-roberts-euring-llm-9107466/