We caught up with Felipe Magueron, Credit Risk Manager at Vale, to hear about his experience managing risk in mining.

A conversation with Felipe Margueron

As a mining company, what is in your opinion the biggest risk you are exposed to?

Sustainable mining is of uttermost importance for any mining company. We need to explore our planet’s resources carefully, building a chain of prosperity across all communities / countries where we work. Not succeeding on making this happen and communicating those developments to our stakeholders are the biggest risks faced by mining companies.

You are a credit risk specialist. Has your approach to credit risk management changed over the last few years? Why (whether it’s a yes or a no)?

Yes, risk management is all about changing the culture and incentives of company’s decision makers about how they look at return over invested capital for decision making. My approach is to implement return adjusted by risk for decision making.

You've been participating to ComRisk since year one, and before that to other gatherings around emerging markets, risk management and metals in general. What value do you see in taking part in such meetings?

It is always very productive to participate to ComRisk, the discussions during panels and also informal talks during breaks are very important to be updated on risk management trends.