Current Developments in the UK Mining Industry

Mining Technology Division Conference Wednesday 4th - Thursday 5th October 2017

At IOM3 HQ, 297 Euston Road, London NW1 3AD

MINING TECHNOLOGY DIVISIONSupporting the Mining Industry

At the turn of the 20th Century Europe led the World in the development of mining and mineral processing technology and was largely self-sufficient in minerals, and exported to outside of the continent. The situation at the start of the 21st Century is very different – Europe is almost totally reliant upon imported raw materials. Indeed, this has been recognised by none other than the EU, who have identified critical raw materials, the so called CRMs on which European industry depends and the list is growing ever longer with a further 6 commodities being added in 2014 to bring the list of CRMs to 20. The realisation is that Europe is almost totally dependent upon imported minerals – with one country, China, dominating the production of the majority of CRMs. This is forcing a rethink about the desirability of mining in Europe. Indeed the EU, which for so long seemed to regard mining as a redundant occupation that should be eliminated from within European borders, has had a complete reassessment and mining is now seen as part of the solution to increasing European GDP growth and prosperity. Perhaps nowhere in Europe is this renaissance more evident with actual projects than in the UK, where in the last few years world-class-mining projects have been opened, or are in development. Who could have predicted that at the turn of the 21st Century! The UK is fortunate in having a great geological diversity and this is very evident in the projects that will be discussed at this conference – ranging from coal, through industrial minerals to strategic metals and precious metals. This conference will provide the current definitive state of UK mining. I look forward to meeting you all and welcoming you to the Conference.

Welcome Note

Christine Blackmore Chairman of the Mining Technology Division

As the Chairman has said in her Welcome Note, the UK is incredibly fortunate in having a great geological diversity of minerals ripe for extraction. Although the deep coal mining industry in the UK has disappeared, surface mining is active, but good news indeed, there are proposals for the development of two new small underground coal mines. However other minerals such as polyhalite, potash, salt, gypsum, fluorspar, tin, tungsten and gold are all currently being mined, with a number of exploration projects underway especially for lithium. It has long been thought by MTD that the full extent of mining in the UK is not generally appreciated.

The Aims and Objectives of this Conference are to bring together representatives of the various companies involved in UK Mining, in order to hear about their current operations and to outline their future plans and aspirations. It is intended that, by organising this conference, mutually beneficial discussions can be enjoyed between parties within the mining fraternity. The Conference Volume of the papers will hopefully provide the wider public with a greater appreciation of the UK mining industry. We want to emphasize the scale of the UK mining industry in terms of the benefits it can bring, not only in terms of the products, but also in job creation and the rebuilding of communities. It is intended that this Conference will define the current state of the UK mining industry.

Aims and Objectives

Alan AuldMTD Board Member

Speaker InformationPaul Bradley, Operations Manager – HM Principal Inspector Mechanical Engineering - H & S Executive

Graham Clarke, Operations Director - Sirius Minerals, York Potash Project

Richard Gray, MD and CEO, Chris Sangster, Non-Executive Director - Scotgold Resources Cononish Mine

John Austin, Mine Manager - British Gypsum, Marblaegis Mines

Tim Sambrook, Plant Metallurgist - Wolf Minerals Drakelands(Hemerdon) Mine

Jason Hopps - Irish Salt Mining & Exploration Co. Ltd

Bill Birch, Managing Director - New Crofton Co-op Colliery Ltd

Owen Mihalop, COO, Richard Williams, CEO - Strongbow Exploration Inc. South Crofty Tin Mine

Stuart Hoult, CEO and Andrew Watson, Commercial and Operations Director- Mines Rescue Service

Peter Robinson, Chairman - British Fluorspar, Milldam Mine

Gordon Dunn, Managing Director - Compass Minerals UK, Winsford Mine

Brian Kelly, Managing Director - Dalradian Gold Ltd, Curraghinalt deposit, Northern Ireland

Andrew Fulton, Operations Manager - ClevelandPotash, Boulby Mine

Mark Kirkbride, CEO - West Cumbria Mining

Brett Grist, Exploration Manager - Cornwall Resources Ltd, Redmoor Project

Jeremy Wrathall, CEO – Cornish Lithium

Professor Pat Foster, Director of Education & Associate Professor in Mine Safety - Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter

Ian Hughes, Project Manager – M-I SWACO – Foss/Duntanlich Mine

Registration2 Day Conference including lunch and networking river boat dinner

Venue: IOM3 HQ, 297 Euston Road, London, NW1 3AD

Member Fee £250 +VATNon-Member Fee £300 +VATStudent Member £125 +VATStudent Non-Member £150 +VAT

Register now at: www.iom3online.org/mtd2017

Organising Committee: Christine Blackmore, Alan Auld, Wyn Griffith, Norman Jackson, David Seath, Rod Stace and Pat Foster.