The organisers of ALTA 2019 are celebrating the largest conference in its 24-year history, with record attendance of 450 delegates from 32 countries, reflecting 20% growth on 2018.
This annual metallurgical event attracted 250 new faces, along with many previous attendees and ALTA regulars, according to organisers. It was supported by 29 sponsors, partners, co-sponsors and media partners.
The largest ALTA exhibition to date included 42 exhibitors and was attended by 75 visitors in addition to conference attendees, they said.
The technical program included 100 papers delivered across five conferences, with delegates treated to high-calibre opening and keynote speakers including David Weight, Cobalt Institute (UK), Dr Bryn Harris, NMR360 (Canada), Prof Jacques Eksteen, WASM (Australia), Dr Brett Moldovan, IAEA (Austria), Dr Karin Soldenhoff, ANSTO (Australia), Adrian Griffin, Lithium Australia (Australia) and Dr Horst Maerten, Heathgate Resources (Australia)/UIT (Germany).
All opening and keynote presentations or papers will be available shortly from the ALTA Free Library. In addition, for the first time, videos of the opening and keynote addresses will also be published. The full technical eProceedings will be available for purchase in July.
The associated panel discussions covered the topics of Pressure Acid Leaching, Developments in Uranium IX, Fit-for-Purpose Gold Leaching Systems, Novel Lithium Processes and Enhancing ISR Permeability. Detailed notes from each of the panel discussions will be published in the coming weeks.
The conference was enhanced by three practically-oriented technical short courses presented by Alan Taylor on Nickel-Cobalt Laterites, Copper SX/EW and Heap Leaching.
“The weekend courses were extremely popular, recording our highest attendance with 74 people from 20 countries,” ALTA said. ALTA short course manuals, seven in total, are available for purchase and immediate download from ALTA’s website.
Visit the website for the full conference report and photographs, go to https://www.altamet.com.au/conferences/alta-2019/
