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 In fact, she has spent a lot of time at sea, even living for months without seeing land.Due to the unpublished topic of her postdoc, at the end of last year she was the winner of the contest “For Women in Science” by the L'Oréal-UNESCO foundation and her research is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.