With more than 20 years of post-admission legal and corporate experience Francois Joubert is a recognized strategic advisor providing clients with legal, strategic and commercial/transactional advisory services in the natural resources, safety & health, land use planning, power, oil & gas, mining and industrial related sectors.
His experience includes:
- Advising clients in respect of the legal requirements and risks associated with proposed new or re-financing of mining, renewable energy or industrial activities in Africa;
- Representing international companies with mining ventures in South Africa in mediation hearings and tribunal hearings in respect of highly complex matters pertaining to mining operations and water use activities in sensitive or protected environments;
- Drafting legal clarification opinions on behalf of South African based and or international Environmental Assessment Practitioners and or their clients in respect of environmental regulatory compliance requirements and or liabilities within the Africa Region;
- Conducting regulatory compliance audits in terms of ISO 14001 and 18001 for major mining and industrial companies;
- Negotiating and settlement of project financing agreements, lease or sale of land agreements, engineering, procurement and construction contracts, integrated waste water infrastructure co-operation agreements, drawdown agreements, definitive feasibility agreements, joint operations agreements, wheeling agreements, gas trading agreements, farm-in agreements, operating and maintenance agreements, transport agreements, fuel supply agreements, power purchase agreements; for a variety of oil, gas and alternative energy facilities, including compressed natural gas, cogeneration, biomass, landfill gas to energy, landfill waste to fuel, coal bed methane and coal to gas, solar, and wind power production facilities;
- Advising mining and industrial companies on life cycle mineral rights performance and management, environmental, safety and health and water regulatory compliance assessments and environmental and water use authorisations, National Energy Regulator approvals and closure/decommissioning statutory compliance requirements;
- Advising Governmental, State Owned Entities, financial institutions and or other private clients on credit risks, lenders liability, guarantees, warranties and indemnity provisions in respect of the financing of potentially risky infrastructure, property or other development deals that may have an adverse effect on the environment;
- Representing early-stage and venture-backed companies developing and commercializing oil, gas and energy-related or other clean technologies, including solar, wind, biofuels, fuel cells, batteries and biofuels, as well as venture capital firms and larger corporations that are undertaking strategic investments in oil, gas and alternative energy technologies;
- Advising clients on the correct procedures to follow, and relevant contents to include in application documentation in respect of compulsory environmental, water, land use, safety and health assessments and or statutory appointments, certifications, compliance authorisations, full-scale Bankable Financial Feasibility, technical and legal compliance due diligence investigations, from the conception to the monitoring phases of a project;
- Strategic advisory services to various Mines and Municipalities, working in conjunction with key National and Provincial departments in respect of the development of innovative strategies and programmes aimed at supporting accelerated service delivery, rural development enterprise development, including emergency turn-around action plans addressing critical service delivery failures resulting in harm to communities and the environment.
