Otto Mining Law

James Michael Otto
Otto Mining Law

Biography: James Michael Otto

James Michael Otto is an internationally renowned natural resources lawyer, economist and former academic. He has worked in over 50 nations for governments, the private sector, multi-lateral agencies and educational institutions on assignments mainly related to natural resources law, policy, taxation, sustainable development and natural resources sector driven poverty alleviation. He was formerly with the East West Center (Honolulu) where he worked on law, policy and economics projects for the governments of Asia/Pacific. After leaving the EWC he was initially named the United Nations Chief Technical Advisor for the project to develop the Malaysian national mining policy, laws, regulations and fiscal system. With the UN he also worked on natural resources law projects throughout the Asia region (Brunei, China, Japan, Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia ...). For the next 15 years he was employed as Professor and Director or Deputy Director of leading natural resources university programs (University of Dundee, Colorado School of Mines,University of Denver Sturm College of Law)while also pursuing independently an intensive consulting career. He retired from academia in 2007.

Professor Otto has been the lead international lawyer in the development of mining laws, regulations and agreements for nations in Africa, Asia, the mid-East and elsewhere. He has worked with many nations in the design of their mining taxation systems. He is widely acknowledged as a leading authority on mining laws, agreements, and taxation and his books on these subjects are widely referenced. Examples include his co-authored book on mining royalties published in 2006 by the World Bank and his co-authored book on international mining law and policy published by the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation. A video clip of his presentation to the World Bank on mining taxes is available. He has published with the United Nations including books on sustainable developmentin mining. His UN published paper on mining taxation is often cited as are his papers on fiscal decentralization and mining laws. He has provided testimony to the US Senate and House of Representatives on reform of the US mining law. Professor Otto’s early academic work focused on diverse subjects such as the economics of seabed minerals, and the application of mining economics to exploration planning in China.

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