ABOUT ME
Hello! I'm Hermien Uys
I'm a corporate commercial advisor with 20+ years' experience in the natural resources industry. I have led the Africa-focused legal, corporate governance and business development departments for three multinational corporations, including Rio Tinto, and De Beers. I have specific expertise in mergers & acquisitions, strategy development, corporate finance, sustainability practices and project team management. I am passionate about lifelong learning, doing meaningful work and creating an inclusive company culture.
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Hermien Uys
CORPORATE LAW ADVISOR, DIRECTOR, PUBLIC SPEAKER
Phone:
+27(0)83 4766 776
Email:
Address:
7 Tulbach Street, De Zalze, Stellenbosch
South Africa, 7600
Date of Birth:
October 5th, 1971
I'm known for
Managing complex legal and commercial matters.
Leading high-stakes negotiations,
Fostering relationships with key stakeholders.
Providing strategic direction as a board member.
Ethical leadership.
Risk management.
Most contagious laugh in the office.
My services include
Executive Corporate Counsel
Consulting
Directorship
Speaker
2019 - 2024
General Counsel, Executive Director & Exco
Vedanta Zinc International
I managed all legal and corporate commercial matters at Vedanta's Black Mountain and Gamsberg Mining Operations in the Northern Cape, South Africa and at Skorpion Zinc Mining at Rosh Pinah, Namibia. I led the Vedanta legal team in Zambia where a shareholder dispute with the Government of Zambia at Konkola Copper Mines plc was successfully resolved.
2011 - 2018
Rio Tinto / Rossing Uranium Limited
Chief Counsel, Director, Mining & Metals Consultant
As Chief Counsel: Southern Africa for Rio Tinto, I provided legal-commercial advice to Rio Tinto's seven mining businesses in Southern Africa. I acted as legal lead and project manager for the re-negotiation of Richards Bay Minerals’ current facilities with a US$550m term loan and a ZAR2.5bn revolving credit facility, involving a consortium of local and international lenders. This transaction led to the Rio Tinto legal team’s inclusion in the Legal 500’s General Counsel Powerlist: Africa Teams. As Mining Consultant, I was engaged by Rossing Uranium Limited to advise the CEO and CFO on the new sale and purchase arrangements for Rossing's natural uranium concentrates to be agreed with Rio Tinto Marketing Limited.
2003 - 2011
Senior Legal Counsel, Director
De Beers
I formed part of the iconic producer relations team, tasked with identifying business development opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa and India through joint ventures with Governments and private companies. I provided legal-commercial support to De Beers' mining operations in South Africa, Namibia, Botswana and Tanzania as well as its exploration operations in Angola, the DRC, Botswana, South Africa and India. I was the legal lead and project manager for the sale of Finsch diamond mine. I participated in the refinancing of DBCM during the Global Financial Crisis.
EXPERIENCE
EDUCATION
2000 - 2002
Masters in Business Administration (cum laude)
BUSINESS SCHOOL, UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH
1999 - 2000
Honours in Business Administration (cum laude)
1993 - 1994
UNIVERSITY OF STELLENBOSCH
LLB
1990 - 1992
B.Comm (Law)
1989
Matric Average A
BLOEMHOF GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL, STELLENBOSCH
TESTIMONIALS
Deirdre Walker, Partner: NRF
I have worked with Hermien on a significant mining dispute for over 2 years now. The matter is ongoing and involves proceedings in Zambia, South Africa and England. Hermien is a client who is very much a part of the team and is someone who has absolute mastery of the detail ensuring that nothing is overlooked in the planning and organising of our strategy to ensure that the dispute achieves a commercial outcome for the client. Hermien is fully engaged and therefore willing to, and does, contribute proactively to the ongoing success of the matter - a real team player yet willing to give direction and to make decisions. Her work ethic is phenomenal.
Mpho L Mothoa, VP, Operations – Asia Pacific & South Africa, Tronox
Hermien recently did consulting work for Tronox South Africa on ESOPS options. In this assignment, Hermien demonstrated a high level of professionalism and in-depth knowledge of the subject matter. She delivered high quality work output within the agreed timelines. I do recommend her for any company that requires her skills on legal, change management, strategy and stakeholder engagements.
Harry Kenyon-Slaney, Chair, Gem Diamonds Limited
Hermien provided invaluable support to me on two large and complex transactions in the Southern African environment. The first involved the acquisition of the stake of a JV partner and required the completion of many lengthy, multi-level negotiations and commercial agreements and the second involved the full exit from a troubled asset with a wide range of national, international and government parties all adopting widely opposing positions that had to be bridged. Hermien handled these, and many other more routine legal and commercial activities expertly and her professionalism and practical approach ensures that she would be a credit to any legal or commercial team. I would be happy to endorse her.
EXPERTISE
"Exceptional leadership, legal expertise and strategic vision resulted in Hermien Uys winning General Counsel of the Year Award at the 2023 African Legal Awards"
25 September 2003
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Mergers & acquisitions: Disposal of a number of De Beers' diamond mines, as well as Rio Tinto's interests in diamond and coal assets in Southern Africa. Negotiating joint venture agreements for exploration projects, including with Government counterparts, with a particular focus on Southern Africa.
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Corporate Governance: Executive Director on 18 Subsidiary Boards of De Beers, Rio Tinto and Vedanta (incl. HSE and SEC Board Committees). Legal Compliance function management.
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Business re-financing & restructuring: Negotiation of term loans, revolving credit facilities, preference share finance facilities, and related security agreements (e.g. mortgage bonds, general bonds, special notarial bonds, share pledges).
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Sustainability leadership: Social & Labour Plan reviews (incl. community engagement), environmental compliance management (incl. biodiversity), mining charter compliance. Board training on ESG compliance.
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International dispute resolution: successful negotiation of a new shareholder agreement for Konkola Copper Mines plc which resolved an international dispute between the parties in Zambia by avoiding a pro-longed arbitration process.
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Stakeholder management: including negotiations with sovereign governments in Botswana, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique, Zambia and India.
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Project management: sizeable projects with budgets > US$500m.
PUBLIC SPEAKING
I regularly participate as a speaker at industry conferences and events, contributing expertise on sustainability, ESG and corporate governance topics, and engaging with professionals across the sector.
Upcoming Speaking Engagements
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IGF on Mining, Metals & Sustainable Development @ Mining Indaba 2025 – ‘Futureproofing Mining through Skills Development and Local Employability'.
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General Counsel Forum - Extractives, 2025: 'Beyond Counsel: The Evolving role of the GC on Corporate Boards'.
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African GC Summit, 2025: 'The Challenges of New Tech and Generative AI for Legal Teams'.
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Past Speaking Engagements
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Mining Indaba General Counsel Forum, 2024 – Keynote Speaker: ‘Equality & Equity in Mining’; Panel discussion: 'Current realities and opportunities in natural resources disputes',
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Mines and Money London, 2022 – Keynote Panel: ‘What challenges and opportunities does the circular economy bring for the mining industry?’
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Mining Indaba General Counsel Forum, 2022 – Panel discussion: 'An Opportunity for Creativity: Facing Novel Employment Challenges Post Covid'.
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Mines and Money, 2021 – Panel discussion: ‘M&A outlook in a Post Pandemic World’.
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AFMIC, 2021 – Speaker: ‘Restrictions concerning foreign investment in the exploration and extraction of mineral resources.’
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Mining Indaba General Counsel Forum, 2021 – Panel discussion: ‘Dinner party defence – Extractives has an image problem’.
PODCASTS
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I enjoyed participating in the #OnChange Podcast series by Petro Du Pisani, reflecting on my 2017/2018 sabbatical. During my conversation with Petro, I shared a quote which is often attributed to Paulo Coelho: 'In life, patience is not about waiting; it's the ability to keep a good attitude while working hard on your dreams, knowing that the work is worth it. So if you're going to try, put in the time and go all the way. You will realize the struggle is not found on the path: t is the path.' Listen to the episode here.
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Thank you #TheMiningCoach Christo Horn for the opportunity to share my learning and development experiences in the mining industry with your audience. Listen to the episode here.