The Society of Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (SME) welcomes delegates to the XXXI IMPC 2024 in Washington D.C. in the USA. For more information visit the IMPC 2024 website. With lengthy visa processing times in some locations, SME is working now to support those attendees and speakers in submitting appropriating documentation to attend IMPC.

Proceedings of the IMPC Asia Pacific Conference 2022 are available online.

Visit the IMPC Asia Pacific Conference 2022 website for further information and to place your order.

Proceedings of the XXX IMPC Congress, ‘Resilient futures for mineral processing’, are now available online.

Visit the IMPC 2020 Conference website for further information and to place your order.

In February 2019, the Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration, Inc. hosted a SME/IMPC International Symposium entitled Reflections, Challenges and Opportunities in Minerals Processing: Honoring the 90^th Birthday of Professor Douglas W. Fuerstenau, at the 2019 SME annual meeting in Denver, CO. Continue reading →

Update on activities of the International Mineral Processing Council
Update on the various activities of the Council since the meeting in Moscow during late 2018. The Council held its 2019 meeting in Cape Town on 10^th November and a number of matters arose which will be of interest to you.

1. Congresses
   1. XXX IMPC: As you know the XXX IMPC will take place in Cape Town from 18-22 October 2020 (see https://www.impc2020.com/). I understand that it may still be possible to submit abstracts even though the deadline has passed.
   2. XXXI IMPC: This Congress will take place in 2022 in Melbourne, Australia.
   3. XXXII IMPC: This Congress will take place in 2024 in Washington, DC, USA.
   4. XXXIII IMPC: I will shortly be sending out an invitation to all members of the IAC to submit bids to host the XXXIII IMPC in 2026. These will be preliminary bids and will be considered at the Council’s meeting at the time of the Cape Town Congress. A short list of strong candidates will then be identified and a final decision, based on full bids, will be made at the time of the Melbourne Congress.
2. Co-badged ConferencesIMPC-Eurasia 2019: The first such Conference (IMPC-Eurasia 2019) was held in Antalya, Turkey, from 30^th October – 2^nd November 2019. It was a highly successful Conference which attracted almost 350 delegates mainly from the Eurasia region. Such events are expected to make a financial contribution to the Council and we are most grateful to Guven Onal for the donation of USD40 000 from the profits made from this Conference

1. 1. Nancy 2021: At its meeting in Cape Town last November Council approved a proposal that the 2^nd  such Conference in this series will take place in Nancy, France, in August or September 2021. The proposal to host such an event has been led by Lev Filippov and he is in the process of putting together an Organising Committee representing countries which broadly incorporate the EU members. It is hoped that they will shortly launch a website which will have all the relevant details.
   2. 2023 and beyond: Presently there is possibility that the 3^rd in this series of Regional Co-badged Conferences will take place in St Petersburg in 2023 incorporating countries such as Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, etc.  Countries wishing to host  such a regional Conference which are co-badged with the IMPC are welcome to submit such proposals to the President of the Council at any time. These Conferences may only be of 3 days duration, involve a region and not just a single country, and take place in years between International Congresses.

1. Council membership
   1. President: As was announced in Moscow Dr Ralph Holmes will assume the position of President at the time of the Cape Town Congress.
   2. Members of Council: In due course an invitation will be extended to IAC members to nominate persons for the new Council which will take office in Cape Town.
2. Council Commissions:

All the Commissions will be hosting Workshops during the XXX IMPC in Cape Town. These will include:

1. Education Commission led by Diana Drinkwater
2. Minerals Processing Commission led by Rod Elvish. This Commission includes the following Working Groups (WG):

1. 1. 1. 1. Sustainability WG led by Markus Reuter
         2. Global Minerals Processing Research Survey WG led by Romke Kuyvenhoven and assisted by John Herbst
         3. Digital Transformation WG also led by Romke Kuyvenhoven

IMPC Website
The website is in the process of a major reconstruction. The project is being led by Diana Drinkwater and Pablo Brito-Parada and the technical work is being done by New Concept a company based in New Delhi.

History of Congresses video
The video which showcases all the Congresses since the 1^st Congress in London in 1952 was first launched at the time of the XXVI IMPC in New Delhi in 2012 thanks to the efforts of Pradip. The video has now been updated and incorporates a number of new features. To see this video go to : https://impc-council.com/update-of-the-video-of-the-history-of-the-congresses/

Lifetime Achievement Award
A call will go out shortly for nominations for this award which will be made at the time of the Cape Town Congress. The Committee which adjudicates on this award consists of: Eric Forssberg (Chair), Dave Deglon, Valentin Chanturiya, Jim Finch and Juan Yianatos.

Council finances
Since I assumed the position of President of Council in 2016 the Council’s funds have been held at the University of Cape Town where they are subject to all the various audits and controls typical of a public institution. With the change of President, a Working Group consisting of Ralph Holmes, Robin Batterham and Pablo Brito-Parada has been established to look at the future management of these funds.

IAC Membership

The current list of IAC members can be found at :
https://impc-council.com/about-us/people/international-advisory-committee/
You are reminded that every country is entitled to have 2 members of the IAC. Should you be the sole representative of your country you are invited to arrange for the appropriate official body in your country which represents the interests of minerals processing to nominate a second representative. This can be done at any time.  Please feel free to contact me in this regard.

Opportunities to become involved
You are reminded that you are encouraged to become actively involved in the work of the various Commissions. You need only to email me or the Commission Chairs to indicate this. (Diana Drinkwater: diana@mljc.com.au; Rod Elvish: rod.elvish@pip.com.au)

Click for the Video “History of Congresses“