He worked as a general commercial and mining lawyer until he moved into the mining and exploration consultancy work on a project basis in the early 1990s. Mr Ailakis has been involved in the development of constructive relationships with Aboriginal Land Councils and traditional owners and in the conduct of access and native title negotiations, as well as ground acquisition and matters relating to tenement management and Mining Act compliance. Mr Ailakis has been actively involved in the development and implementation of Redstone’s acquisition strategy over the past several years.