Palmer is a judge for the 2024 Canadian Law Awards
Environmental, social and governance matters have been top of mind for Benoit Palmer this year as he supports global mining giant Rio Tinto in its sustainability goals. The company’s mandate is to find more sustainable ways to provide minerals and metals the world needs.
“We’re making sure we get the relationship right with our stakeholders – not just our employees but our local communities, local governments, and all the way down the chain to our customers and our suppliers,” says Palmer, who is one of the judges for the 2024 Canadian Law Awards.
For the past five years, Palmer has been working in the Indigenous space, as Rio Tinto has operations located near Indigenous communities. Palmer and his team have negotiated long-term cooperation agreements with three Indigenous communities.
“After years of negotiations, our team finally cracked the code and got those agreements signed,” says Palmer. He also recently worked with the Government of Madagascar to reset the company’s investment framework for Rio Tinto’s QMM operations – an important milestone for the company.
Negotiating a joint venture between Rio Tinto and Alcoa Corporation was another career highlight for Palmer. Back in 2018, the partnership resulted in the development of a new technology in aluminium smelting that produces oxygen and eliminates all direct greenhouse gas emissions from the traditional smelting process.
Palmer has spent the last 20 years of his career working in-house for the same organization – initially joining Canadian aluminium company Alcan in 2003, and remaining with the company when it was taken over by Rio Tinto in 2007. He has been with Rio Tinto ever since, taking on increasingly senior roles, and he now holds the title of chief counsel for Canadian mining businesses.
Based in Montreal, Palmer has responsibility for legal matters relating to all of Rio Tinto’s Canadian businesses except for aluminum – which include white diamonds, titanium and iron ore, as well as an ilmenite mine in Madagascar. He is the principal advisor to the strategic leadership teams for these businesses, on all legal matters which range from potential acquisitions and commercial matters to disputes.
Since moving in-house in 2003, Palmer has not looked back to his days in private practice, as he values maintaining control and direction of the file as only in-house counsel can. “We still use external counsel for advice on things that we don’t have expertise in, but we retain the decision-making over how we use that advice,” he says.
In the 20 years since joining the legal department, Palmer has noticed a shift in the hierarchical structure at Rio Tinto.
“We’re looking for everyone’s input at every level instead of managing from the top down,” he says. “Our leadership style is to encourage different points of view and manage as a collegial team, rather than being too directive.”
Nominations for the 2024 Canadian Law Awards are open until February 2.
