Founding Partner and Managing Director

Javier Jara

Estribor Consulting Group · Santiago, Chile · Over 20 years in natural resources

I have sat on every side of the table in Latin American mining: as regulator, as operator, as adviser and as chairman.

I am a lawyer with an LL.M. in Mineral Law and Policy from the University of Dundee, and the founding partner of Estribor Consulting Group. My career combines two experiences that rarely meet in one person: I ran the mining arm of Chile's regulator and later headed the development division of the Ministry of Mining, and I have held commercial and executive roles in exploration, technology and mining services companies in Chile, the United States and across the region.

That combination is the reason Estribor exists. A foreign investor arriving in Chile does not need the rules explained: those are published. What they need to know is how a permit is actually decided, who signs it, which missing document stops it, how long it really takes, and what can move in parallel meanwhile. That is only learned by having been inside the system and, afterwards, on the side of the party investing.

Current roles

• 2018 – presentFounding Partner and Managing Director · Estribor Consulting GroupAdvising foreign and domestic companies on mineral exploration and development: business strategy, permitting, environment and communities, joint ventures and commercial negotiations. Organisations advised include Newcrest Mining, Deep Green, Komatsu, Korn Ferry, VerAI, Lithium Chile, and the Ministries of Mines of Chile, Panama and Ecuador.
• 2025 – presentChairman of the Board · s2B Tailings SpAChairman of the board and executive president of the company.

Career

• 2022 – 2025CEO · Biometrika LATAMGeneral management of the regional operation.
• 2021 – 2022Chief Business Officer · VerAI Discoveries (Boston)Commercial strategy and global portfolio roadmap; capital raising, mining property and permit applications, and community relations.
• 2020 – 2021Principal, Global Mining Practice · Korn FerryExecutive search and advisory on leadership and culture for the mining industry.
• 2018 – 2020Head of the Mining Promotion and Development Division · Ministry of Mining, ChileIdentifying gaps and designing and implementing policy to sustainably promote and develop mining activity in Chile.
• 2014 – 2017VP Commercial · Quantum PacificResponsible for M&A, business development, portfolio management, project appraisal, mining property and permits. Closed the joint exploration agreement with Barrick Gold Corporation for northern Chile and the agreement with Asset Chile for the Coastal Belt.
• 2011 – 2014Mining National Director · SernageominRan the mining arm of Chile's national geology and mining service: a team of 250+, 13 direct reports and a US$30 million budget. Restructured and modernised the mining division to clear a backlog of outstanding mining and environmental permits, restoring processing times to the levels the law requires. Took part in the discussion and drafting of the Environmental Assessment System regulation, the Mine Closure Law, and amendments to the Water Code and the Mining Code.
• 2011 – 2012Head of the Department of Mining Property · SernageominA team of 70+, 10 direct reports and a US$6 million budget. The unit advises the courts on the constitution of mining and geothermal concessions and maintains the National Mining Cadastre and the National Geothermal Cadastre. By redesigning internal processes and introducing new technology, cut the time to issue mining property permits from 300 days to 60.
• 2004 – 2009Associate Attorney · BLYRStart of his career: corporate, judicial and administrative counsel to natural resources and real estate companies.

Education

Distinctions and memberships

Writing

• How to get mining permits in Chile: a practical guide for foreign investorsSEIA, sectoral permits, Law 21,770 and realistic timelines.
• Environmental permitting in Chile: main bottlenecks399 days for a DIA, 1,124 for an EIA: where projects actually stall.
• Lithium in Chile: between strategic opportunity and regulatory uncertaintyNon-concessible lithium, CEOLs, protected salt flats and the Codelco–SQM partnership.
• Solar energy in northern Chile: new opportunities for foreign investorsCurtailment, storage and where the capital is going.
• Signs of recovery, three years on: the money returned, the discoveries did notA record mining pipeline with only 19% new projects.

In the press

• BNamericas — How Chile's mining sector could spearhead the green hydrogen revolutionInterview.
• BNamericas — Chile looking to boost copper smelting and refining capacityFeature with expert commentary.
• Metro Libre — Cobre Panamá and public-private partnerships: from conflict to a development platformOpinion column, in Spanish.
• Metro Libre — Cobre Panamá: the copper that returns without reopening the mineOpinion column, in Spanish.
• Acero y Roca — The specialised mining talent deficit in San JuanInterview, Argentina, in Spanish.

Also quoted in El Mercurio, Diario Financiero, Minería Chilena, Área Minera and the Chile Explore Report, and interviewed by Panamanian media on the future of Cobre Panamá.