My Profile

Rui Botica Santos has been a senior partner at Coelho Ribeiro & Associados (CRA) since 1998 and is the founding partner of CRA Timor, a law firm established in East Timor in 2006.

He is admitted to the Bar in Portugal, Brazil, East Timor, and Macau. Rui holds a law degree and a postgraduate degree in European Law from the University of Lisbon, as well as a certificate in Mining Law: Domestic and International Issues from the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation (US/Denver, 2009). He is also an Honorary Master of Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía (ISDE, Spain), where he lectures on the LL.M. programme.

Rui specialises in advising both junior and senior mining companies on exploration licences and exploitation concessions, and has focused his practice on international acquisitions, licensing and financing projects in the mining sector.  He has served as legal counsel for major copper mining projects in Portugal, including Somincor – Sociedade Mineira de Neves Corvo, S.A. (formerly owned by Lundin Mining Group and now by Boliden) and Pirites Alentejanas, S.A. (now Almina, S.A.), and Redcorp Portugal/Ascendant Resources, as well as other companies with activities in Portugal, such as MTI - Ferro de Moncorvo SA, CPF - Companhia Portuguesa de Ferro, S.A., Almada Mining S.A. (Petaquilla Minerals), and MAEPA (Avrupa). In Timor-Leste, he has advised ConocoPhillips and continues to advise ENI, SANTOS and Estrella Resources.

Rui has been a member of the Somincor board (since 2018), and member of the boards of the Toronto-listed companies Belo Sun Mining Corp. (from 2006 to 2013 and again since 2020), and Cerrado Gold Corporation (since May 2025).

Rui also has extensive experience in international arbitration. He currently serves as Judge and President of the International Tribunal of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), as well as arbitrator and mediator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.