Richard has worked in the minerals sector for over 30 years advising the industry, mineral and land owners and has developed and led the largest specialist legal practice in the country. He is widely acknowledged as a leading practitioner providing proactive and practical commercial advice backed by extensive technical knowledge. He has particular expertise in the life cycle of quarries and post extraction development, technical issues around infrastructure, freehold mineral ownership and manorial rights and applications for compulsory working rights.

Richard has dealt with freehold and leasehold mineral transactions for the country’s largest mineral operators as well as specialist businesses in the critical minerals sector, land and mineral owners and the property aspects corporate transactions involving minerals and waste businesses. He advises mineral owners and developers on the impact of trespass to minerals by surface development working with specialist litigators, surveyors and geologists as well as working closely with insurance brokers.

Examples of Richard’s work include complex cooperation agreements, options, mineral asset disposals and leases and ancillary agreements to facilitate a 5000 unit garden village development, a high court case involving trespass to mineral ownership by a large mixed use development and an upper tribunal application in relation to claimed manorial rights ransoming a proposed 1000 unit residential development. Recently he has assisted developers manage risks the third-party mineral ownership including innovative agreed conduct insurance. He advises on moving service infrastructure to facilitate quarrying and surface development including “the mining code” and is one of very few lawyers to have advised both mineral owners and operators in applications to the Secretary of State and High Court proceedings for the acquisition of compulsory working rights.