The First International Future Mining Conference & Exhibition was held at The University of New South Wales, Sydney, November 19 – 21 November, organised by the School of Mining Engineering, UNSW and The AusIMM. Dr Serkan Saydam, Chair of the conference, told IM “the conference was very successful. We tried to look at the future of mining and to get some understanding of the potential problems along with the solutions and challenges. We also aimed in this conference to present new scientific and technological developments from other disciplines into the mining industry which was the uniqueness of the conference. There is no other mining conference that looks at and tries to find solutions from other disciplines. From my perspective we have achieved this successfully.
“Each session provided many important insights. This conference provided an excellent opportunity for the mining community, government, research, operations, technology and services and other interested parties to hold open and robust discussions on the full range of important issues currently being considered in the context of the challenges and opportunities, innovations, needs and Issues for the future of mining.
“I must also highlight that the high level of interest: around 150 delegates across five continents and the papers address current technologies and predicted scenarios from North and South America, Europe to Asia and Pacific countries. This was very satisfying for the first conference. In addition to that we received very positive feedback from delegates and especially industry representatives.
“We had three keynote speakers who were Mitch Hooke, Chief Executive Officer of the Minerals Council of Australia, Dr. Guner Gurtunca, Director of Pittsburgh Research Laboratory, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, USA and Prof Bruce Hebblewhite Head of School of Mining Engineering UNSW and Director of Mining Education Australia.
“And the AusIMM professionally and perfectly organised the conference together with the organising committee at University of New South Wales. UNSW Faculty of Engineering is the largest Engineering Faculty in Australia and rated No 1 in Australia by the latest Times Higher Education Survey. UNSW is one of the leading mining educational institutions in Australia. One of the things we at UNSW Mining School pride ourselves on is our ties with industry and our commitment and ability to meet the ever-changing needs of the industry, at all levels of research, education and training. This conference therefore was very important for us in helping chart the future of the mining industry and hence the future research & education requirements.
The organising committee has decided that this inaugural event will be placed in the mining calendar as a regular event. And the 2nd International Future Mining Conference will be held in 2011 in Australia again and overseas thereafter.”
The conference aimed to present and discuss future needs of the mining industry; current and prospective innovations in the mining industry and implementation of new scientific and technological developments from other disciplines into the mining industry.
The Conference aims to identify possible scenarios of ‘Mining in the Future’ and provide a picture of the global mining industry in 2025 and beyond. www.futuremining.org
