RPMGlobal’s Consulting & Advisory division has opened its new regional headquarters in Toronto, Canada, to, it says, cater for the increasing growth in the country’s mining investment activity.

As a reflection of the growing size and activity in the Canadian market in terms of global mining investment and mining company headquarters, RPMGlobal’s Consulting & Advisory head office has transferred from Denver to Toronto.

The new Toronto head office is a key component of the company’s refreshed Americas Business Strategy, which also sees the relocation of Avakash (Akoo) Patel, President of the Americas region for RPMGlobal’s Consulting & Advisory business, to Toronto.

Alongside the business re-focus into Canada, RPMGlobal is continuing to grow its team with the recent appointments of resource geologists Jeffrey Smith and Francine Long, based at the new Toronto office.

In line with further anticipated growth in the market, RPMGlobal says it will continue to seek out qualified talent in the engineering and infrastructure space to join the team in Toronto. RPMGlobal’s Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance team is also looking to add to its environmental and community social relations group.

Philippe Baudry, RPMGlobal’s Executive General Manager – Advisory Services, said the company was experiencing rapid growth across its Canada customer base in line with its strategy to grow market share across the Americas.

“Our intention is always to have a very strong support network for our customers and the increased investment in our Toronto footprint is a strong reflection of that commitment,” he said. “Over the years, Toronto’s mining sector has been on a strong growth trajectory, which is indicative of the confidence and stability in the Toronto market.

“With a substantial amount of mining investment and financial decisions around mining now being driven by companies that are mostly headquartered in Toronto or Vancouver, it was a natural decision to move the lion’s share of our focus to Toronto.”

As part of the overarching Americas strategy, RPMGlobal will continue supporting its client base in Denver, Reno and Vancouver, and will continue to grow its presence in South America following the recent establishment of RPMGlobal’s new office in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

The company’s commitment to the region is supported by the appointment of Marcelo del Giudice as its new General Manager of South America and Principal Metallurgist. del Giudice is a metals and mining professional with proven experience in different base metals and precious metals across Latin America.

Patel said the repositioning of RPMGlobal’s Consulting & Advisory division in the Americas coincided with the growing significance of Canada as a global major mining hub.

“Canada, and Toronto in particular, is a major target for growth in coming years due to the size of the mining market with 47% of all publicly traded mining companies trading on the TSX and TSX-V, and 53% of all mining financing in the last five years being completed on Toronto exchanges,” he said.

“The strategic decision to open up a new office in Toronto positions us well to capitalise on the strong demand for RPMGlobal’s high quality mining advisory services in Canada.”