AusIMM brings international collaboration to Perth

The second week of September provides a super-sized professional development week for the resources sector at the Crown Perth.

The Australasian Institute for Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) MetPlant Conference will be held from 9-10 September, immediately followed by the World Gold Conference from 11-13 September.

Since 2002, the MetPlant Conference series has continued to build on the tradition of promoting and imparting knowledge pertaining to “World’s Best Practice” in metallurgical plant design and operation.

It brings together a broad range of disciplines from across the industry involved in ‘whole of life’ planning and operation – from design and maintenance engineers, operations managers, planning engineers, metallurgists and process engineers, environmental specialists, equipment suppliers, service providers and consultants – to discuss and review developments in metallurgical plant design and the optimisation of operations.

The MetPlant organisers are delighted to have secured nine highly regarded keynote speakers from companies including BHP, Newmont Goldcorp, SIMEC, OZ Minerals and Ausenco. With an increased focus on technology, digital transformation, lessons from Silicon Valley, intellectual property, machine learning and AI, MetPlant delegates will be challenged by the concepts presented and impressed with the calibre of the conference.

The inaugural RME/AusIMM Innovation Award will also be presented to the author of the paper judged to be the most innovative.

AusIMM CEO Stephen Durkin said that in 2017, AusIMM’s MetPlant Conference was attended by 350 delegates from 15 countries, with the conference receiving a record 83 abstracts from all over the world. With the conference being held in conjunction with the World Gold Conference, Mr Durkin expected an even larger turn out this year.

The World Gold Conference series (2019 will be the eighth conference since inception) is a joint venture between AusIMM, The Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM) and the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM), highlighting the ongoing collaboration of professional peak bodies in the resources industry globally.

“Australia’s $19 billion gold industry, and the professional expertise within it, will be showcased as we share knowledge and learnings from our international partners,” said Mr Durkin. “Behind only China, Australia’s gold mines will produce an estimated 10.7 million ounces this year alone, a credit to the professionalism of the more than 20,000 individuals working directly in the Australian gold mining industry.”

This year’s conference theme will be ‘unlocking sustained value from gold deposits’.

Leading the conversation are three eminent plenary speakers from the Australian industry, as well as six leading international keynote speakers. The conference will include all aspects of gold mining including exploration, mining, geotechnical, metallurgy (processing) and environmental themes. As a way of encouraging diversity of views, the conference will have workshop sessions where professionals can share leading expertise.

“This year AusIMM is holding seven major conferences in Perth, with some expected to attract up to 800 professionals,” Mr Durkin said.

Individuals receive a discounted registration fee when they register for both conferences.

More information and registration details are available at metplant.ausimm.com and worldgold.ausimm.com.