Jon Lamb
Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer, Orion Resource Partners
Event
Wood Mackenzie LME Forum 2026
Metals: Geopolitical resources at the centre of the battle between molecules and electrons.
Registration is now open. Submit your details via the register interest button.
Join us at the Wood Mackenzie LME Forum in London on 21 October 2026 to engage in powerful conversation with Wood Mackenzie’s research analysts and industry thought leaders.
Navigate disruption. Seize opportunity. Shape the future of metals.
Explore the key drivers and challenges with topics including:
- Molecules and electrons - Metal winners and losers in a fractured world
- The rise (and rise!) of electrification – What impact will geopolitics, decarbonisation and AI have?
- Base Metals: Navigating Copper, Aluminium, Zinc and Nickel markets
- How is Government policy redrawing the critical minerals map?
- Battery technology – Which chemistries will dominate?
- Lithium – from boom, to gloom: Navigate the volatility and find the opportunities.
Our LME Forum is now at capacity. Please join the waitlist, and we'll be in touch to confirm if a place becomes available.
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2026 Speakers include:
Utilising Wood Mackenzie’s expertise, thought leadership and industry connections, this forum provides an unrivalled chance to meet and hear from leading experts on what is shaping the metals industry.
Join us in London on 21 October 2026
Agenda
8:00 AM
GMT
8:00 AM - 9:00 AM
Registration
9:00 AM
GMT
9:00 AM - 9:05 AM
Welcome
Lindsay Grant
Vice President, Head of M&M Markets Research
Wood Mackenzie
9:05 AM
GMT
9:05 AM - 9:15 AM
Global economy: conflict, AI and demographics
- Conflict: GDP scenarios to navigate uncertainty
- AI: boom and battle
- Demographics: a long-term warning
Peter Martin
Vice President, Head of Economics
Wood Mackenzie
9:15 AM
GMT
9:15 AM - 9:25 AM
Introduction: The rise (and rise!) of power
- Surging power demand in an era of uncertainty
- Electrification as a route to regional energy security
- AI and data centres reshaping power markets
Lindsey Entwistle
Principal Analyst, Energy Transition
Wood Mackenzie
9:25 AM
GMT
9:25 AM - 10:05 AM
Panel: Molecules and electrons - Metal winners and losers in a fractured world
- Molecules vs Electrons - is the energy transition losing ground to hydrocarbons, or are both markets set to boom in parallel?
- China's dominance across metals and critical minerals supply chains - from mining to processing - can the West build a viable alternative for the energy transition, or is de-risking a decade away?
- AI, data centres and grid demand - the new electron-hungry giant reshaping metals markets
- Who are this cycle's winners and losers - and what should investors be positioning for now?
Valentina Kretzschmar
Vice President Consulting, Climate Risk and Strategy
Wood Mackenzie
Peter Schmitz
Director, Global Copper Markets Research
Wood Mackenzie
Michael Willoughby
Global Co-Head Metals & Mining
Jefferies
Emily Olson
Executive Vice President and Chief External Affairs Officer
Alcoa
10:05 AM
GMT
10:05 AM - 10:40 AM
Spotlight on Base Metals: Navigating Copper, Aluminium, Zinc, and Nickel markets.
Charles Cooper
Research Director, Head of Copper Research
Wood Mackenzie
Edgardo Gelsomino
Research Director, Aluminium
Wood Mackenzie
Jonathan Leng
Principal Analyst, Zinc Markets
Wood Mackenzie
Alina Zhunussova
Principal Analyst, Nickel
Wood Mackenzie
Emily Brugge
Principal Analyst, Copper Supply
Wood Mackenzie
10:40 AM
GMT
10:40 AM - 11:10 AM
Refreshment Break
11:10 AM
GMT
11:10 AM - 11:30 AM
Keynote interview
Jon Lamb
Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer
Orion Resource Partners
Derryn Maade
Global Head, Metals and Mining
Wood Mackenzie
11:30 AM
GMT
11:30 AM - 12:10 PM
Panel: How is Government policy redrawing the critical minerals maps?
Patrick Barnes
Vice President, Head of Metals & Mining Consulting
Wood Mackenzie
Dominic Raab
Head of Global Affairs
Appian Capital Advisory
Helen Amos
Managing Director and Commodities Analyst
BMO Capital Markets
Luis E. Lucero
Secretary of Mining of Argentina
Secretariat of Mining of Argentina
12:10 PM
GMT
12:10 PM - 12:40 PM
Powering tomorrow: Battery innovation, energy storage and lithium
Battery technology - which chemistries will dominate?
- LFP market share appears resilient with a boost this year from ESS, but regional variations emerge where supply chain independence is a priority
- Commercialisation targets for new technologies such as sodium-ion and solid-state approach rapidly and threaten to shake up the outlook for raw materials demand
- Despite a sluggish H1 for the US and China, European and emerging markets EV sales surge; battery supply chain output remains at record highs
How does lithium price volatility impact battery storage project economics?
- Exploring the cost of grid-scale storage projects where battery cell contributions are the largest share
- How lithium price volatility has impacted the sector via cell prices, system prices and ultimately project returns
- How much protection is offered by contract structures to developers when raw materials prices spike?
Lithium – from boom, to gloom: Navigate the volatility and find the opportunities
- Where is capital flowing across the lithium supply chain, and who is driving it?
- What’s needed to unlock greater western investment in lithium, and what are the options?
- Why does it matter?
Zeenat Hameed
Principal Research Analyst, Energy Storage
Wood Mackenzie
Milan Thakore
Principal Analyst, EV & Battery Supply Chain
Wood Mackenzie
Oliver Heathman
Head of Metals Assets, Metals & Mining Research
Wood Mackenzie
Suzanne Shaw
Head of Energy Transition & Battery Raw Materials
Wood Mackenzie
12:40 PM
GMT
12:40 PM - 12:45 PM
Closing remarks
Derryn Maade
Global Head, Metals and Mining
Wood Mackenzie
12:45 PM
GMT
12:45 PM - 1:45 PM
Networking Lunch
Speakers
Interest in speaking at our upcoming conference?
Be part of the conferences' story and share your most recent findings and challenges to industry peers. Unveil your thought leadership expertise and distribute your latest white papers to a crowd of targeted individuals.
To learn more contact us by filling in the contact us form or events@woodmac.com
Please register your interest to attend the Forum.
Join the Forum to:
- Hear Wood Mackenzie’s latest outlooks for aluminium, copper, lithium, nickel and zinc/lead
- Attend industry-leading panel discussions - Wood Mackenzie’s experts on metals markets, economics, energy and battery technology will discuss market drivers for key metals and the status of the energy transition
- Gain new perspectives from industry leaders in mining, financing and governments who will join our analysts in debating the supply-side challenges
- Leverage the great opportunity to network with senior industry stakeholders and peers
If you would like to attend the Wood Mackenzie LME Forum 2026
Zeenat Hameed
Principal Research Analyst, Energy Storage
Wood Mackenzie
Zeenat is a principal analyst in Wood Mackenzie’s global energy storage research team. Her work focuses on energy storage supply chains, with expertise in grid integration, market participation and cost structures across global power markets. She joined Wood Mackenzie with over seven years of experience in energy storage, flexibility services and power market analytics. Earlier in her career, Zeenat worked as a senior energy flexibility expert at Hybrid Greentech, where she worked closely with TSOs, DSOs, manufacturers, EPC contractors, optimisers and aggregators to support the integration and market participation of large-scale battery storage assets under different regulatory and market conditions. Education PhD, Energy Systems Engineering, Technical University of Denmark MSc, Renewable Energy Engineering, Monash University, Australia BSc, Electrical Engineering, University of Engineering & Technology, Pakistan
Lindsey Entwistle
Principal Analyst, Energy Transition
Wood Mackenzie
As a principal analyst in our Energy Transition Practice, Lindsey leverages our entire commodity analysis platform to deliver integrated energy market scenario modelling. She provides analysis and insights into global policy, regulations and disruptive technologies and their impact on the global energy transition. Before joining Wood Mackenzie, Lindsey spent eight years in strategic procurement and engineering design roles within the renewable energy and automotive sectors. Her expertise includes new technologies and sourcing strategies for energy storage and zero emissions drivetrains for battery electric and hydrogen-powered commercial vehicles. As part of a Horizon 2020 consortium, she also contributed to levelised cost of energy models and lifecycle emissions assessments for tidal turbines, alongside partners from industry and academia. Education MEng, Engineering Science, University of Oxford
Dominic Raab
Head of Global Affairs
Appian Capital Advisory
Dominic Raab is the Head of Global Affairs at Appian Capital Advisory, Special Envoy for the World Gold Council on artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), a Senior Advisor at Kreab UK, and a Distinguished Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). At Appian, Dominic provides strategic geopolitical advice on the challenge of securing critical mineral supply chains, and helps develop the Public Private Partnerships required to deliver supply chain security. At the World Gold Council (WGC), Dominic published ‘Silence is Golden’ in 2024, a report on the violent exploitation of artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), and the measures needed to counter the illicit flows financing terrorism, mercenaries and organised crime. In 2026, the World Gold Council appointed him as Special Envoy on ASGM.
Jon Lamb
Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer
Orion Resource Partners
Jon Lamb is a Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer of Orion's Royalty strategy, serving on the investment committee of those funds as well as Orion's Mine Finance funds. Mr. Lamb joined the predecessor business to Orion in 2012, having previously worked in metals and mining investment banking. Mr. Lamb serves as Chairman of Sweetwater Royalties, having led the acquisition of its assets in 2020 and currently leading its pending merger with Uranium Royalty Corp. He also serves on the Board of Directors of New Wave Group, a leader in waste-to-value conversion within the alumina industry. He previously served as a director of Atalaya Mining and Lynx Resources. In addition, Mr. Lamb serves on the Board of Advisors to the Boehly Center for Excellence in Finance at the College of William & Mary.
Patrick Barnes
Vice President, Head of Metals & Mining Consulting
Wood Mackenzie
Patrick is a practiced consultant with over 10 years of experience helping mining companies, financial institutions and governments to foster development of stable and equitable mining sectors. As director of our metals and mining consulting team, Patrick leads our consulting engagements on topics related to copper, other base metals, precious metals, steel, coal and infrastructure. He has also focused extensively on public policy development and investment attraction in projects with government clients in Latin America, North America and the Middle East. Patrick joined Wood Mackenzie in 2014 as principal in the metals and mining consulting team. Over his tenure, he has worked with such clients as major and junior mining companies, private equity firms, banks and other financial institutions, steel producers, infrastructure operators and investors, governments, and others. Patrick began his mining sector career advising senior management of Kennecott Utah Copper on investment decisions at the Bingham Canyon mine. After pursuing an MBA and helping to launch a healthcare technology startup, Patrick returned to mining and joined Rio Tinto's Copper headquarters as part of its global business analysis and strategy team based in Salt Lake City, where he led projects and analyses in strategy and valuation in Mongolia, Australia, North America and Europe. Education MBA, Harvard University BA, Finance, University of Utah
Peter Schmitz
Director, Global Copper Markets Research
Wood Mackenzie
Peter leads our copper markets, helping clients in their decision making in an exciting and evolving sector. The team delivers critical insights into a commodity that underpins modern and electrified life as we know it, based on data and bespoke in-house analysis. Peter joins from a boutique consultancy providing macro and commodity insights to the resources industry. Topics covered included implications of climate change, geopolitical and trade concerns and the energy transition, across various commodities. He has experience from mine site to boardroom, having headed macro and commodity research at Anglo American, and worked at Norilsk Nickel International and BHP. Education MSc (Mining), Mineral economics, WITS Hon. BCom(Fin), UNISA Beng(Mech), Mechatronics, University of Pretoria
Lindsay Grant
Vice President, Head of M&M Markets Research
Wood Mackenzie
Lindsay is the head of our metals & mining research team. She contributes to the strategic direction of the M&M business and leads the team responsible for the quality and delivery of our research intelligence across mined commodities. This research includes detailed asset level analysis covering more than 4,000 mines, smelters, refineries and steel mills globally, as well as markets research covering supply, demand, trade and price forecasting for more than 20 commodities across Base Metals, Steel, Raw Materials & Alloys, Battery Raw Materials and Thermal Coal. Lindsay joined Wood Mackenzie in 2008 and has over 17 years of experience analysing energy and natural resources. She has held a variety of leadership roles within the research business and she has led teams through geographical expansion, team restructuring and the development and launch of new products and processes – broadening our global coverage while deepening our commodity expertise. She is a passionate advocate for inclusion, diversity and belonging and has led the WoodMac Women's Network for EMEA. As Edinburgh office lead, she collaborates with key stakeholders to optimise the employee experience for Wood Mackenzie’s 500+ Edinburgh-based employees. Education MA Honours, International Business with Languages, Heriot-Watt University
Helen Amos
Managing Director and Commodities Analyst
BMO Capital Markets
Helen joined BMO in 2025 as Managing Director and Commodities Analyst, based in London, and brings over 20 years of experience in commodities research. Prior to BMO, Helen served as a Commodities Strategist at Morgan Stanley and before that, Helen was Macro and Commodity Research Lead at Anglo American. She began her career at CRU as an Analyst specialising in Steelmaking Raw Materials and holds a BA and MEng from the University of Cambridge.
Derryn Maade
Global Head, Metals and Mining
Wood Mackenzie
Derryn joined Wood Mackenzie in November 2019, and is the Global Head of Metals and Mining, based in Singapore. Prior to this role, he spent eight years leading HSBC’s Metals and Mining research team to a consistent top ranking in the Extel EMEA survey, while covering the major miners and key commodity views. Derryn also worked for Anglo American in a variety of corporate and operational roles, across multiple regions for nine years. Education MBA, Imperial College, London BSc, Mining Engineering, University of the Witwatersrand
Emily Brugge
Principal Analyst, Copper Supply
Wood Mackenzie
Emily joined Wood Mackenzie’s Copper Markets team in 2021 and is based on London. Since then, her focus has been on copper supply. Emily contributes to the Copper Markets and Copper Concentrates services. She joined Wood Mackenzie through its acquisition of Roskill, where she also worked as an analyst on copper supply. Education MSci, Geology, Bristol University PhD, Imperial College London
Emily Olson
Executive Vice President and Chief External Affairs Officer
Alcoa
Emily Olson is Executive Vice President and Chief External Affairs Officer for Alcoa Corporation, overseeing global external affairs, communications and the Alcoa Foundation. Emily is a member of the Alcoa Executive Team, which sets strategy for the Company. Emily joined Alcoa in April 2026. Prior to joining the Company, she served as Chief Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Officer at Vale Base Metals, where she led an integrated global team spanning government relations, communications, sustainability and licensing. Earlier, Emily was Vice President, Global Strategic Relations at Freeport-McMoRan, where she led global strategic initiatives involving governments, partners and external organizations. She spent nearly 15 years at BP plc in progressively senior government affairs and business leadership roles across Washington, D.C., Houston and London. Emily has a bachelor's degree in political science from Loyola University of Chicago and a master's degree in international strategy and diplomacy from the London School of Economics
Jonathan Leng
Principal Analyst, Zinc Markets
Wood Mackenzie
With more than 20 years of experience in the metals and mining industries, Jonathan brings an in-depth perspective to his analysis of zinc markets. Jonathan is a principal analyst focused on zinc mine and smelter supply, as well as concentrate analysis. Though he currently specialises in zinc market analysis, he has also spent significant time in base metal, ferroalloy and gold research. Jonathan joined Wood Mackenzie in 2006 as manager of the zinc, lead and gold mine cost research teams. While in this position, he led Wood Mackenzie’s research agenda and subsequent analysis of trends and developments in zinc, lead and gold markets. Prior to joining Wood Mackenzie, Jonathan worked as a geologist for Croesus Gold in Australia and metals researcher at CRU International. Jonathan also worked in construction cost management at Davis Langdon.
Valentina Kretzschmar
Vice President Consulting, Climate Risk and Strategy
Wood Mackenzie
Dr Valentina Kretzschmar has over 25 years of experience in the energy sector. She is a senior expert, with a focus on corporate energy transition strategies and climate reporting. She joined Wood Mackenzie’s Consulting team in June 2023 from Capricorn Energy, where she served as Energy Transition Director, responsible for the company’s climate change and energy transition strategy and reporting. Before Capricorn, Valentina spent 18 years at Wood Mackenzie across Corporate, Upstream Russia and Caspian and Coal Research teams. As Vice President of Corporate Research, she led the development of Corporate New Energy Research. She is an Advisory Board Member at CausewayGT – a geothermal company. She also held a non-executive director role on the board of NHST Global Media (Norway).
Peter Martin
Vice President, Head of Economics
Wood Mackenzie
Peter is a professional economist with almost two decades experience in the energy and commodities industry. He joined Wood Mackenzie in 2010. In his current role, Peter leads Wood Mackenzie’s macroeconomics team and is responsible for our global economic outlook to 2060. He is experienced in forecasting key macroeconomic metrics such as GDP, Industrial Production, exchange rates and inflation. Peter regularly develops macroeconomic scenarios and sensitivity analysis, including Covid-19, Russia-Ukraine war, Strait of Hormuz closure and trade wars. His special interests include the economics of energy transition and the fiscal stability of oil-producing economies in the Middle East and Africa. Before joining Wood Mackenzie, Peter was an energy analyst at Iberdrola. In this role, he provided technical and fundamental analysis of European energy markets to the trading desk. Education MA (Hons) Economics, the University of Glasgow MSc Economic Management and Policy, Strathclyde Business School
Edgardo Gelsomino
Research Director, Aluminium
Wood Mackenzie
Over the past 30 years, Edgardo has gained a wide experience conducting research, producing content and providing advice to stakeholders across the aluminium industry. He joined Wood Mackenzie in 2010, and has since held various research roles with a focus on the aluminium value chain. Currently, he produces asset level analysis for clients on production costs, materials flows, sustainability, decarbonisation and energy transition. Before joining Wood Mackenzie, Edgardo held positions at an aluminium producer and two other leading international research and consulting organisations. Education BSc, Economics, University of Buenos Aires
Luis E. Lucero
Secretary of Mining of Argentina
Secretariat of Mining of Argentina
The Secretary of Mining of Argentina, Mr. Luis E. Lucero, is a lawyer specialized in mining law and natural resources, with extensive experience in project finance, corporate matters, and complex arbitration and litigation. He graduated from the University of Buenos Aires and pursued graduate studies in business law at the Argentine University of Enterprise (UADE). He also completed academic programs at international institutions including the University of Dundee, Harvard Law School, Columbia Business School, and the University of Cambridge. He earned a Master of Arts degree, with merit, at University College London (UCL). He was a partner at Marval O’Farrell Mairal and worked as a consultant at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman (United States). Throughout his over 40-year career, he also served on boards of directors and supervisory committees of companies in the mining, energy, industrial, and financial sectors.
Charles Cooper
Research Director, Head of Copper Research
Wood Mackenzie
Charles has around 30 years of experience in the metals and mining industry specialising in mineral economics, sustainability, mine finance and data business start-ups. His extensive expertise spans mine-smelter-refinery economics research, commodity markets analysis, and technical and financial due diligence. Charles’s career began in copper and gold at Brook Hunt before its acquisition by WoodMac. He then ventured into various roles, including working as a sell-side analyst. He spent several years leading and building mine economics teams and developing products at SNL Metals & Mining (now S&P Global Market Intelligence) and Metals Focus. In 2016, Charles co-founded Skarn Associates, where he spearheaded teams and established models to quantify GHG emissions, energy consumption, and water usage in mining. Most recently, he founded his own mineral consultancy, specialising in advisory work across copper, PGMs, manganese, and ferroalloys. Throughout his career, Charles has collaborated with a diverse range of clients, continuously expanding his industry knowledge and network. His unique blend of technical expertise and market insight will undoubtedly drive innovation and growth in our Copper Research division. Education MSc, Mineral Project Appraisal, Imperial College London BSc, Geology, Cardiff University
Oliver Heathman
Head of Metals Assets, Metals & Mining Research
Wood Mackenzie
Oliver has over 15 years of experience in the metals & mining sector across research, consulting and leadership. Over his career, he has covered a broad suite of metals including battery raw materials, precious metals and steel alloys. Oliver’s role at Woodmac sees him lead the teams covering our base metal, precious metal and battery raw material asset level research across mine costs and emissions benchmarking. He joined Wood Mackenzie in 2021 following the takeover of Roskill, where he established the company’s sustainability & cost analysis division. In his time at Roskill, he developed several first of their kind products including cost services across lithium, nickel sulphate and vanadium, and Sustainability Monitors covering lithium, cobalt and nickel sulphate. Before joining Roskill, Oliver was a founding member and the Head of mining research at metals focus, developing the company’s mine cost and supply-side market forecasting research of gold, silver and PGMs. Education BSc, Geology, University of Bristol MSc, Mining Geology, Camborne School of Mines.
Alina Zhunussova
Principal Analyst, Nickel
Wood Mackenzie
Alina has over 12 years of professional experience spanning metals & mining, management consulting, and technology. She joined Wood Mackenzie in 2023 as a Senior Analyst in base metals, initially focusing on zinc costs before transitioning to nickel in 2025. She now leads Wood Mackenzie's nickel costs service, specializing in the Indonesian nickel sector and its policy landscape's implications for global supply. Alina is also actively involved in advancing AI capabilities across Wood Mackenzie's research teams. Before joining Wood Mackenzie, Alina spent five years at Eurasian Resources Group as an Investment Analyst managing capital expenditures across copper and cobalt, ferroalloys, aluminium, coal, iron ore, and energy divisions, and later as a Business Analyst delivering a critical finance transformation project for the Group. Alina also held positions in Data & AI at Accenture's Microsoft Hub in London and managed data projects at Under Armour in Hong Kong. Education BSc, Mathematics and Stastistics, UCL
Suzanne Shaw
Head of Energy Transition & Battery Raw Materials
Wood Mackenzie
Suzanne is the head of WM’s Energy Transition & Battery Raw materials Markets team, providing analysis of raw material supply chains so our clients can navigate an increasingly technology-driven future. She has almost two decades of experience as an analyst in the specialty battery and critical raw materials space. Her team cover supply chains for lithium, nickel, cobalt, graphite, rare earths and cathode and precursor materials.
Michael Willoughby
Global Co-Head Metals & Mining
Jefferies
Michael Willoughby is Global Co-Head Metals & Mining at Jefferies. He has over 27 years of experience in the Resources and Diversified industries sectors, including 8 years as an equity research analyst and 18 as an IB coverage banker. Michael has deep expertise throughout Industrial, Emerging and Western markets having led >$50bn of M&A and >$60bn of financing transactions across six continents in all major commodities. He is well versed in regional and global dynamics having lived in Australia, Japan, China, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Michael most recently, served as Global Head of Metals, Mining & Transition Materials at HSBC, overseeing the largest balance sheet in the sector and previously, led the Metals & Mining Investment Banking team for Asia Pacific at JP Morgan and Standard Chartered.