Annual two-day event has a packed schedule of presentations on safety, engineering projects, critical minerals and more.
By Donna Schmidt
The Pittsburgh chapter of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME) and the Pittsburgh Coal Mining Institute of America (PCMIA) are putting the final components in place for their annual joint meeting and conference, set for October 26-27 in Pittsburgh, Pa.
Set once again to be hosted at the Hilton Garden Inn Southpointe in Canonsburg, just south of the city, the two-day gathering has a full schedule and will be hosting a number of regional vendor booths at the venue.
Following a keynote on the first day, the initial session will cover industry ethics, including a presentation from Fisher and Phillips on ethical dilemmas and the hidden traps of liability. A second session on engineering projects will include gas well research updates – a very popular topic for the region – and the ground control and ventilation concerns that surround them, presented by NIOSH researchers.
A health and safety session in the afternoon will kick off with CONSOL Energy’s Jason Diamond, who will present on mine emergency response.
On October 27, SME President Marc LeVier will get the day going with his keynote, “The Future of Mining and Critical Mineral Carbon Ore,” followed up by the association’s annual awards ceremony. Later that morning, a session will commence on critical minerals and sustainability, which will include a discussion from the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), “Critical Mineral Resources from Wastes: Characterization Informed Separations from Fossil Fuel Byproducts.”
Following a luncheon and keynote, Day 2 continues with a penultimate session on automation and control, beginning with a talk about the automation of roof bolting in underground coal mines through electro-hydraulic control from Komatsu’s Pat Willaman. A final session, again on engineering projects, will follow, with the final presentation offered in that session, thus wrapping up the conference, being “Methane Reduction Flares” from Perennial Energy’s Edward T. Boys.
A full accounting of session papers, as well as registration and lodging information, is available at www.smepittsburgh.org. North American Mining magazine is a media sponsor and will be in attendance; watch the magazine’s social media feeds and Miners News Global online for on-the-ground coverage.
