John Tivey, the lead partner in the mining practice at Freehills, is leaving the Australian firm to join White & Case in Hong Kong, reports The Asian Lawyer.

Freehills has confirmed that Tivey has resigned and will be joining White & Case later in the year. In a statement, chief executive partner Gavin Bell called Tivey's departure "regrettable" but said the firm's mining practice would remain strong.

"Freehills retains a deep bench of talent in corporate and mining that is clearly the best in the region," said Bell.

Tivey, who has mostly been based in Freehills' Melbourne office with stints in Singapore and Jakarta, will now lead White & Case's mining practice in Asia.

Heavy investment in Australia's mining sector from Asia, particularly China, has driven a boom in cross-border M&A activity. Last year, Tivey advised state-owned China Minmetals Resources on two major deals – a successful $1.35bn (£840m) acquisition of Perth-based Anvil Mining and an unsuccessful $6.5bn (£4bn) bid for Australian-Canadian copper company Equinox Minerals.

The increased volume of such deals has been a major factor in international firms' interest in Australia in recent years. Since 2010, magic circle firms Allen & Overy and Clifford Chance have both opened offices there, while Norton Rose, Ashurst and King & Wood have all combined with large Aussie firms.

Freehills and Herbert Smith have also publicly acknowledged that they are discussing a combination. Sources close to the situation say Tivey's departure is not expected to have an impact on those talks, which have moved on to commercial terms with an eye to having partners vote within the next two months.

In a statement, White & Case said: "We are delighted to confirm that John Tivey is shortly to join White & Case as a partner in Asia, where he will lead our mining team and practice.

"White & Case has acted on a number of significant transactions in the mining and natural resources sector recently, including advising the sponsors and the project company in connection with the project financing of Oyu Tolgoi, currently the largest undeveloped copper/gold project in the world, as well advising Societe Nationale Industrielle et Miniere of Mauritania in relation to its financing for the expansion of the Guelb II mine and the construction of a new ore carrier port in Nouadhibou, Mauritania."

This article first appeared on The Asian Lawyer.