Carlos graduated from the Royal School of Mines (RSM), Imperial College, London, in 1981, with a Bsc degree in Mine Engineering. In 2014, he graduated in Senior Management Program (SME) at the IESE Business School (Navarre University).

He began his professional career as a Mining Engineer at the Rössing Uranium mine in Namibia. In 1984, he joined Atlantic Copper in the mining division, assuming the management and supervision of its mining operations in 1993. In 1996, he joined the Metallurgy Division, leading diverse Continuous Improvement projects. In 2005, he was appointed Director of the International Division and Director Concentrate Marketing & Sales of Freeport-McMoRan Inc. In 2007, he also took charge of the Atlantic Copper Strategy Office.

Since 2018, he serves as treasurer to the executive board of the EU funded KIC EIT Raw Materials.