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George (Jordi) Ventura’s practice focuses on corporate, commercial, environmental and mining-related transactions in the international arena, with particular emphasis in Latin America.
Mr. Ventura lived and worked as a senior attorney and manager for over seven years in Ecuador and Honduras for a leading international marketer, producer and distributor of quality fresh fruit. Mr. Ventura’s responsibilities included managing all legal, labor and government matters for this large multinational company.
Thereafter, Mr. Ventura served for almost three years as principal attorney for Barrick Gold Corporation in connection with Barrick’s billion dollar acquisition and development of a gold mine and related processing facilities known as the Pierina Project, located in the northern Andes of Peru.
Mr. Ventura’s responsibilities associated with the Pierina Project included the supervision and management of: acquiring title to all surface and mining rights, as well as coordinating the defense of lawsuits and administrative challenges to same; preparing and obtaining the acceptance of Peru’s first Environmental Impact Study; acquiring all necessary permits and licenses related to the operation of the Pierina Project; preparing and implementing an engineering and procurement contract dealing with the overall construction of the Pierina Project; negotiating and preparing all major contracts related to the Pierina Project; creating numerous off-shore and in-country joint ventures between Barrick entities and third parties in connection with the exploration and exploitation of additional ore bodies; and creating an electric transmission company, which included obtaining all requisite government permits and authorizations, construction of a 90 kilometer transmission line, acquisition of a 20-meter wide easement the length of the transmission line and the transfer of ownership of the electric transmission company
After the Pierina Project, Mr. Ventura served numerous clients in a wide variety of endeavors, including: performing in-depth legal audits and due diligence investigations involving Latin American properties and operations of various mining companies; creating in-country, off-shore and U.S. entities; negotiating with government officials in connection with the procurement of all rights, concessions and export licenses associated with the mining, manufacturing, and marketing of a major jade discovery in Guatemala; preparing and copyrighting an Emergency Response Plan for hazardous substances in various Latin American countries; negotiating and implementing privatizations; structuring, negotiating and drafting cross-border technology licenses, distribution agreements and joint venture agreements; supervising foreign legal counsel in corporate, commercial and litigation matters; preparing model contracts for use by multinational companies abroad in construction, real estate, employment, purchasing and distribution activities; and developing and implementing compliance checklists and training programs.
More recently, Mr. Ventura spent a significant amount of time in-country negotiating, structuring and drafting all documentation (in Spanish and English) associated with over a dozen joint venture projects in Colombia on behalf of one of the world’s largest gold producers.
Mr. Ventura is currently managing all legal matters related to a client’s major zinc discovery in northwestern Guatemala. These matters include mining rights acquisitions, surface rights negotiations, structuring in-country and off-shore entities, and actively creating a community action and social development plan to assist the indigenous communities that will be impacted by the discovery. Mr. Ventura also spends a considerable amount of time assisting other clients in connection with numerous other mining projects throughout Latin America.
Mr. Ventura is a native Spanish speaker and is also fluent in French and Catalán. He holds residency status in Spain, Ecuador, Honduras and Peru.
Mr. Ventura received his J.D. degree from the University of Utah College of Law in 1986, where he was president of the Student Bar Association and vice-president of the Women’s Law Caucus. He received his B.A. degree from the University of Utah in 1983.
Mr. Ventura is a member of the Utah State Bar Association, the Colorado Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association, the International Section of the American Bar Association, the International Bar Association and the Inter-American Bar Association. Mr. Ventura chairs the Environmental Group of the Chamber of the Americas and is President of the Casal dels Catalans d’Utah. | 