Marco Nieto, a Colombian geologist with two decades of experience, holds a Master's in Geophysics and a MBA, he is a Professional Geoscientist (P.Geo.) in Ontario, Canada.  He is also a Competent Person for the Colombian Commission for Mineral Resources and Reserves, where he served as the Technical Director until March 2025. Under his leadership or support, Good Mining Practices Guides for various minerals were developed, and the second version of the Colombian Standard for Mineral Resources and Reserves, based on the CRIRSCO (Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards) template, was established. As Business Development Manager at Xcalibur Smart Mapping, the airborne geophysical company leader, Marco has spearheaded critical mineral exploration projects across the Americas, from Canada to Argentina, emphasizing best practices throughout the early stages of exploration.  A strong advocate for responsible mineral exploration, Marco believes in the vital role of minerals in driving the energy transition. He is the current Chair for Latin America and the Caribbean at the Society of Exploration Geophysicists and a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geologists. 

Lucia Villar is an oceanographer and PhD in marine geosciences. She has just finished her postdoctorate at the geophysics department of the University of Chile where she identified methane gas seeps from the seafloor in the active continental margin of Chile.From the beginning, Lucía has been involved in the exploration of marine mineral and energy resources present in our country. In fact, she has spent a lot of time at sea, even living for months without seeing land.Due to the unpublished topic of her postdoc, at the end of last year she was the winner of the contest “For Women in Science” by the L'Oréal-UNESCO foundation and her research is currently going to a more environmental area, where she wants to help to generate awareness in the companies that extract marine resources to guide them to a sustainable development. 

Carlos Silva is the Head of the Mining Strategy and Public Policy Division of the Ministry of Mining. Civil Engineer and MBA from the University of Chile, and Master in Public Policy from Tsinghua University in China. Carlos has 14 years of experience in the mining sector contributing significantly to several copper mining projects in Chile. The division headed by Carlos, which comprises the public policy, innovation and mining development departments, together with the gender and diversity unit, plays a decisive role in driving the design and implementation of public policies and initiatives to ensure that the country's mining sector continues to develop in a sustainable manner and in line with the highest international standards.

Adam Simon is the Arthur F. Thurnau Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences at the University of Michigan and CEO of VectOres Science, Inc., a company specialized in using metal isotope hydrogeochemistry for mineral exploration, processing, environmental monitoring and metal traceability. Adam earned BSc., MSc. and PhD degrees in Geology from Stony Brook University and the University of Maryland and was a postdoctoral fellow in Earth & Planetary Sciences at The Johns Hopkins University. Adam is recognized as an expert on all aspects of mineral resources. He is a Fellow of the Society of Economic Geology and the Mineralogical Society of America. He has led research programs on all seven continents. Adam co-authored the books Mineral Resources, Economics and the Environment, and Earth Materials: Components of a Diverse Planet, has published 120 scientific articles, and supervised or co-supervised 51 MSc. and PhD students. He regularly gives invited lectures around the world including a TEDX talk and he was awarded the University of Michigan Teaching Innovation Prize for his innovative pedagogy.

Dr. Carlos Juan Schulz holds a Ph.D. in Geological Sciences from the National University of Córdoba (Argentina), and a Master's and Diploma in Groundwater Hydrology from the Polytechnic University of Barcelona (Spain). He earned his Geology degree from UNLPam. From 1980 to 2006, he served as a professor at the National University of La Pampa, where he also held key academic positions including Director of the Master’s Program in Water Resources and the Institute for Water and Environmental Studies.