CRU Strategies' Consultants 

Phil has 18 years experience in the mining and mine engineering industry. He has wide project management experience of multi-disciplinary teams across different countries and cultures. Phil's current focus within CRU Strategies is on portfolio management and the incorporation of risks both at the operations and corporate level. Phil, working in collaboration with the major international mining companies, has developed bespoke valuation techniques that facilitate value growth by aligning projects and Mergers and Acquisitions activity with a stable portfolio. 

Other project experience includes strategic reviews of the iron ore industry with a particular emphasis on the emerging pellet feed market; understanding environmental legacy risks associated with the mining and metals industry and general market issues associated with the base and precious metals industry.

Mining experience and operations exposure was gained during 10 years at Golder Associates where Phil was a recognised international expert in the field of paste technology and tailings management. Phil has worked in over 30 countries worldwide and has a Masters degree from McGill University, Montreal.

Robin has been working as a market research analyst, economic forecaster and, most recently, management consultant in the global metals and mining industry since 1973. He is currently a Senior Managing Consultant for CRU Strategies and also has primary responsibility for CRU Group’s intellectual property, including its Compass ™ long-term price forecasting methodology and its Value Based Costing (VBC™) approach to business strategy, asset valuation, and performance improvement at mining, beneficiation and metallurgical operations of all kinds. He acts as Chairman of CRU Strategies’ Center of Mining Excellence in Santiago, Chile.

Robin led the development of CRU Strategies’ approach to managing mining operations from a capital productivity perspective to increase shareholder value. He has developed benchmarking concepts and linked these to performance measurement systems at iron ore and base metal mines, aluminum smelters, aluminum, stainless steel and steel rolling mills and other metallurgical facilities. He is a specialist in the development of Monte Carlo simulation models that integrate technical, economic and political risk assessments for the purpose of project decision-making and finance and asset valuations. He also has extensive experience with a similar approach to the application of bargaining zone theory in strategically important contract negotiations such as electricity contracts for aluminum smelters and marketing off-take agreements.

Robin was Vice President, Metals, Mining and Shipping at Chase Econometrics, a subsidiary of JP Morgan Chase, from 1976 to 1983. He was the founding President of Resource Strategies Inc which merged with CRU in 1996 to create what is now CRU Strategies. He was educated in Zimbabwe and at Oxford University, England, where he holds the degree of MA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.

Since joining CRU Strategies in April 2009 as a founder member of its office in India, Siddarth has been providing research assistance in the Indian metals and mining industry.  He has worked on projects related to steel raw materials and base metals.  Prior to joining CRU, Siddarth has worked as Software Engineer with Infosys Technologies for one year where he was involved in development and database management.

Siddarth holds an Engineering degree in Electronics and Communication and an MBA in Finance from NMIMS, Mumbai.  

Rodrik comes to CRU from Bentley Systems in Russia where he consulted with major EPCs and Oil & Gas Owner/Operators on the use of technology for managing infrastructure and major capital projects.  Rodrik spent a further five years opening regional offices and commissioning a Siberian production facility to establish a presence for Pyrotek in the CIS.  At Pyrotek, Rodrik consulted on the introduction of cast house and pot room technologies at all major aluminium producers in Russia.  Prior to taking up residence in Russia, Rodrik worked on projects to develop mine production in Kazakhstan and the underlying technology platform for hosting Prowess MarketBrain, an Internet start-up that used US National Lab technologies for crunching pricing data for commodities from a client-centric costing perspective.

Rodrik has led startups and new technology engagements in transition economies and high-tech growth markets.  He has supported the modernisation of major aluminium producers in Russia on a plant and executive level and has worked closely with Russian and international EPCs to modernise their CIS operations.

Rodrik holds a MASc Management Science, BASc Electrical Engineering and BA Russian

James joined CRU International in 2006, initially working on down-stream natural gas and nitrogen projects within British Sulphur Consultants, before moving to CRU strategies in early 2008.  Since joining James has focused on the iron ore market producing several scoping and feasibility studies for mining houses.  He has completed projects on uranium, copper, lead, zinc, precious metals, vanadium, and steel.

James holds an undergraduate degree in Geology from Imperial College London (The Royal School of Mines), completing several undergraduate projects on ore reserves, both on a financial and a technical basis.

Nick has worked for CRU Group for 10 years and currently leads our Valuation Practice where he has been responsible for numerous feasibility assessments in addition to assignments working with the financial community to prepare financing documents. He has been heavily involved in assignments relating to aluminium, steel and their respective raw materials. 

Nick joined CRU Strategies in 2004 from the Aluminium Business Unit of CRU Analysis, where he was responsible for the research of the flat rolled aluminium products markets, focussing particularly on aluminium foil and beverage packaging. He also had a wide exposure to many of the Aluminium Business Unit's other activities, including analysis of the primary aluminium and scrap markets.

 Nick holds a degree in Economics from Cambridge University, and reads French.

After completing an internship in China, Josie joined CRU’s Aluminium Business Unit  – contributing to the publications of the Aluminium semis teams.  In particular, she worked on flat rolled and extruded aluminium product markets.  In addition to monitors and quarterly reports Josie was involved in the aluminium rolling costs report and the biannual beverage packaging study.  Josie has also worked on primary aluminium smelting market – with focus on China.

Recently, Josie broadened her experience of the upstream aluminium industry with consultancy work on bauxite, alumina, and primary aluminium.  Her projects have included the evaluation of primary producers’ growth strategy and an evaluation of cast house product markets. 

Josie has a Masters in Chinese and Business from Leeds and a BA in European Studies with German from Edinburgh University.

Robert worked for eight years in CRU Analysis, focusing on the specialty steel and associated raw materials sectors and after working as a group economist for Corus for two years, returned to CRU. 

Robert has developed an extensive knowledge and understanding of the carbon steel industry through his employment at one Europe’s principle producers. In addition, he has a thorough understanding of the stainless steel industry and associated raw materials including nickel, ferrochrome and bulk ferroalloys.  Robert heads the Market Decisions practice for ferrous consultancy projects.

Robert holds a BSc in Economics and Politics from the University of Bristol. 

Since joining CRU Strategies, Juan Esteban has been involved in developing methodologies to quantify and mitigate risks in mining and mineral processing operations. 

Prior to CRU, Juan Esteban worked for six years as Assistant Vice President at Citigroup within the Metals and Mining group, performing risk analysis for the main Chilean mining companies such as Codelco, Escondida, Collahuasi, Sur Andes, Mantos Blancos, Pelambres, Tesoro and Enami.  Transactions with these clients involved corporate bank loans, syndicated loans and bond emissions

Juan Esteban holds a BSc in Industrial Civil Engineering from the Catholic University of Chile and is fluent in English and Spanish.

Michael has worked on valuation and strategy development projects for various clients in the steel, aluminium and copper industries. More recently, he has been involved in productivity benchmarking and performance improvement projects for major mining companies in Latin America.

Prior to joining CRU, Michael spent four years with Royal Dutch Shell where he examined shareholder value delivery and the implementation of value based management metrics.

Michael holds a PhD in Finance from Manchester Business School and a BA (Hons) in International Business, Finance and Economics from the University of Manchester. He is fluent in Swedish and Spanish.

From his project work and research to date, Ionut has developed an expertise in metal consumer support and advice, including negotiation and purchasing support and price risk analysis. Ionut has also studied the molybdenum market and its long-term prospects in detail, with a particular emphasis on demand and developments in China.

Before joining CRU Strategies, Ionut worked for 2 years as a counsellor in the Prime Minister’s Chancellery in his native Romania.  His responsibilities included communications with the European Commission and strategic analysis of financial crime.

Ionut holds a Master of Arts degree in Social and Political Science and a Master of Philosophy diploma in Political Philosophy, both received from Cambridge University.  He is fluent in Romanian, Italian and French and also speaks Japanese and German.   

Andrew has worked in metals research and consultancy since 2003, providing both market analysis and business consulting services across a variety of markets. Sectors include steel and steelmaking raw materials, steel tube & pipe, stainless steel, base metals and precious metals. He has also launched several regular research reports on steel flat products, steel tube & pipe and gold.

Since joining CRU Strategies Andrew has primarily worked on commercial due diligence projects supporting financing packages and takeovers. He is currently head of the Market Decisions practice area for non-ferrous consultancy projects.

Andrew holds a degree in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from Oxford University.

Rodrigo joined CRU Strategies in 2009. He has worked on projects in the energy and ferrous industries, where his principal involvement has been market analysis. He has also been involved with several performance improvement projects at mines in Latin America. Prior to joining CRU Strategies, Rodrigo has worked as an environmental economist for Deuman.

Rodrigo holds an MSc in Management Science, a degree in Business Administration from the Adolfo Ibáñez University in Chile. He speaks Spanish, English, French and Portuguese. 

Gillian joined CRU in 1997.  Prior to joining CRU she worked for the South African Chamber of Mines and the Rand Refinery (the world’s largest gold refinery). Since joining CRU, Gillian has had overall responsibility for all regular work on precious metals and contributes to CRU’s regular precious metals research. She also has undertaken client specific assignments for precious metals, in particular on the analysis of the pgm markets. 

Gillian has recently returned after two and a half years in the CRU Beijing office, where she worked on single client and consultancy projects in China as well as the development of new business opportunities.  She has been involved in assignments across the ferrous and non-ferrous metals industries.

Gillian holds a B.Comm from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg and a B.Comm Hons from the University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa.  She also gained an MSc in Finance from the University of London, UK.

Alison is the Editor of CRU’s uranium research, including its two major publications: "Next generation – at what cost?" and "What price next generation supply?".

Colin joined CRU in 1983 and has worked in metals research and consultancy for 30 years.  In the late 1980s he started managing CRU’s aluminium business and with over 15 years of experience in this role, Colin is considered an expert is his field.  He now works across the main practice areas and metals covered by CRU Strategies.  In particular, he focuses on Strategy and Valuation work, whilst maintaining his specialist knowledge of the aluminium sector.  Colin has also undertaken projects in ferrous raw materials, base metals, minor metals and non-metallurgical alumina.

Colin’s early career was spent in Papua New Guinea, as policy analyst at the Minerals and Energy Department, and before that at ICI Ltd.

He has a BA Econ in Economics from Manchester University, and a MSc in Economics from the School of Oriental and African Studies.

Taylor has contributed to a number of projects including analysing forward pricing of various metals, estimating mining costs, quantifying country risks and examining capital costs. Taylor has applied Monte Carlo analysis to construct valuation and risk profiles of alumina and aluminium projects.

Prior to CRU he worked at Azzurro AG, Germany, where he conducted market research on semiconductors. Taylor also worked for Lockheed Martin in Colorado, where he assisted with budgeting and business strategy.

Taylor graduated from the Colorado School of Mines with a BSc in Economics and a MSc in Engineering and Technology Management. He is currently completing a MSc in Economics at Umeå University, Sweden.

Philip Tomlinson has spent his entire career working on commodity market issues. After three years with the International Wrought Copper Council, he spent six years at International Nickel (Inco) as senior market analyst before joining CRU in 1982.  After working on base metals for several years, he was appointed Director of CRU International's steel business unit in 1989.  He then managed a major expansion of CRU's steel activities to establish the company as the leading globally-oriented consultancy for the steel industry. 

Since 2003 he has been with CRU Strategies, being involved at the highest level in strategic advice, as well as projects involving due diligence for financial transactions, improved product and market strategies, competitive analysis and purchasing strategies. His areas of expertise include the upstream (raw materials) sectors of the steel industry, as well as the full range of downstream activities in both carbon and stainless steels.

He holds an MA in Natural Sciences and Economics from Cambridge University and a Diploma of Management Studies from the University of Westminster. He is bilingual in French and English, and has a working knowledge of German and Spanish.

Katherine joined CRU Srategies in early 2008. Prior to that she gained work experience at a law firm specialising in patent law. Since joining the team, Katherine has spent a large amount of time on reviews of current market conditions for a range of mined products, including base metals, steel raw materials and precious metals. These reports include historical and forecast information on regional ore production, sector capital expenditure, and associated market commentary. Katherine has also been involved with several market entry projects across a range of commodities, including iron ore, aluminium and zinc.

She holds an MA (Hons) in Economics from the University of St. Andrews.