The Mineral Economics and Management Society (MEMS) will tackle a range of technical, environmental, and social issues at its annual conference, slated for April 21-23 at the Ontario Club in Toronto.
The conference will explore: the technology of mining and mineral extraction; the way mining companies are organizing in response to changing conditions; techniques for evaluating projects; the costs and liabilities related to closure; and the continuing challenge of managing mining’s relationship with broader society as the industry learns how to practise sustainability.
Specifically, the conference will consider what is changing and explore how companies and institutions can manage transitions and prosper in this new environment.
Among the offerings will be a morning session titled “The Evolution of Mining Technology and its Impact on Profitability and Sustainability.” The session will begin with a 90-minute session by Charles Maxwell, project evaluations manager with Phelps Dodge, and be followed by a look at mine design, blasting and fragmentation, as explained by Michael Hood of the Co-operative Research Centre in Australia. After Hood, Ronald Kelly and Michael Bernard of California-based Terra Nova Technology will take the stage to discuss recent innovations in ore and tailings conveying. The session wraps up with a panel discussion featuring Hood, Kelly, and Ren Marion, vice-president of technical services with Barrick Gold, and Juan Camus of Codelco.
Mergers will be the subject of another morning session, this one featuring Lisa Morrison of Pennsylvania-based Resource Strategies. Morrison will be followed by Peter Kettle of U.K.-based CRU International, who will talk about the financial performance of merged companies; then Theodore Peridis of the Schulich School of Business at York University will examine the lessons learned from consolidation.
A pre-conference workshop titled “Using Real Options to Value and Manage Mining Projects” will be offered on the morning of April 21. It is being jointly sponsored by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum and the Mineral Economics Society. The session, which costs $150, will feature Michael Samis of Kuiseb Minerals Consulting and Graham Davis of the Colorado School of Mines.
The entire conference, excluding the pre-conference workshop, is $255 for members and $355 for non-members. Students can attend for $60. For more information, call 303 273-3321. E-mail: space@mines.edu
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