Keynote Conference & Exhibition Day One -
9 September 2026
09:00 - REGISTRATION
JAPAN’S MINERAL STRATEGY - SAFEGUARDING INDUSTRY AND ECONOMIC INDEPENDENCE
09:25 - 09:30
ORGANISERS' WELCOME REMARKS
09:30 - 10:30
OPENING PANEL DISCUSSION: GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS & ADVANCED TECHNOLOGIES - SECURING CRITICAL MINERALS FOR JAPAN’S INDUSTRIAL, ECONOMIC, AND NATIONAL SECURITY
Yuriy Humber
President, Yuri Group, Japan (Session Chair)
Yoshiaki Otsuki
Special Counsel, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Japan
Andrew DeWit
Professor, School of Economic Policy Studies, Rikkyo University, Japan
James Yellowlees
President, Pacifica GK, Japan
Bryan Bille
Policy & Geopolitical Principal, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, United Kingdom
10:30 - 11:00
REFRESHMENTS BREAK & BUSINESS CARD EXCHANGE
COMMODITIES, CRITICAL MINERALS, GLOBAL ENERGY TRANSITION & TECHNOLOGY
11:00 - 11:30
PRESENTATION: MAKING THE CASE FOR SILVER AS JAPAN’S NEXT CRITICAL MINERAL PRIORITY - MINER’S PERSPECTIVE
Christian Aramayo
COO & Co-Founder, Kuya Silver Corp, Canada
11:30 - 12:00
PREMIUM PRESENTATION: UNIQUE APPROACHES TO HELPING JAPAN TO ACCESS RARE EARTHS AND MINERALS
James Yellowlees
President, Pacifica GK, Japan
12:00 - 12:30
PREMIUM PRESENTATION: JAPAN’S NEW STRATEGIC VULNERABILITY - CRITICAL MINERALS AND THE FUTURE OF STORAGE, SEMICONDUCTORS, AND DATA CENTERS
Magdalena Osumi
Japan Correspondent, New Project Media, Japan
12:30 - 13:00
PRESENTATION: JAPAN'S MINING LAW AND CRITICAL MINERALS DEVELOPMENT - A PRACTICAL GUIDE FOR FOREIGN INVESTORS
Yoshiaki Otsuki
Special Counsel, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, Japan
13:00 - 14:00
LUNCH & NETWORKING BREAK
COMMODITIES, TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION SHOWCASE
14:00 - 14:30
PREMIUM PRESENTATION: THE COPPER SQUEEZE: HOW THE 4DS — DECARBONISATION, DIGITALISATION, DEVELOPMENT AND DEFENCE — ARE RESHAPING INVESTMENT, SUPPLY SECURITY AND GEOPOLITICS
Andrew DeWit
Professor, School of Economic Policy Studies, Rikkyo University, Japan
14:30 - 15:00
PRESENTATION: TRENDS IN MINING DEVELOPMENT USING ISR (IN-SITU RECOVERY) TECHNOLOGY
Rikito Gresswell
Principal Consultant, ERM Japan, Japan
15:00 - 15:20
PRESENTATION: MINES TO POWER - UNLOCKING NATURAL AND RENEWABLE GRAPHITE FRONTIER TECHNOLOGY FOR BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN DIVERSIFIED ENERGY MARKET
Prof Mohini Sain
Director, Centre for Biocomposites & Biomaterials Processing
Ford Motor PERDC Canada Chair in Sustainable Materials, University of Toronto, Canada
15:20 - 15:50
REFRESHMENTS BREAK & BUSINESS CARD EXCHANGE
SUPPLY CHAIN, FINANCING, INNOVATION, SUSTAINABILITY & FUTURE OF MINING
15:50 - 16:50
CLOSING PANEL DISCUSSION: STRATEGIC SOURCING & SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAINS ACROSS MANUFACTURING, DEFENCE, AUTOMOTIVE & HIGH-TECH INDUSTRIES
Andrew DeWit
Professor, School of Economic Policy Studies, Rikkyo University, Japan (Session Chair)
Magdalena Osumi
Japan Correspondent, New Project Media, Japan
Andrea Valentini
VP, Business Development, Argus Media, Japan
Sergey Frolov
CEO, H2Valley, Turkey
16:50
CLOSING REMARKS
17:00 - 18:00
NETWORKING DRINKS RECEPTION