The biennial University of Nevada-Reno and Mine Ventilation Services sponsored conference, held at the Nugget hotel in Sparks, Nevada, had 270 registered guests and workshop presenters, according to event co-chair Keith Wallace of MVS.
In total, 90 papers were presented for the group with an additional four available for review.
While the symposium took on various ventilation areas such as planning, spontaneous combustion and heat/humidity issues, Wallace said there were some subjects related to current events that proved to be hot topics.
“[The] Miner’s Act, diesel particulate matter and mine fire sessions were very popular,” he noted, particularly due to the recent integration of belt air and seal regulations and ongoing efforts for MINER Act compliance by the industry.
The encouraged Q&A periods proved fruitful for the conference as well, with organisers noting no true themes but rather numerous inquiries on a myriad of topics.
“I thought most of the discussions were done well,” said Wallace.
In addition to increased attendance, co-chairs Wallace and Pierre Mousset-Jones noted the international representation at the Nevada conference.
By best estimations, the two said, delegates from 17 countries including the US, Australia, South Africa, Mexico and Canada convened at the university – a number which they believe to be a record in the event’s history.
The chairs and organisers were “very pleased” with the results overall, adding that the strong attendance even beat out the final numbers for the last International Ventilation Congress.
Looking ahead to the next symposium, Wallace and Mousset-Jones said the host for June 2010 has been announced – Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
While still some time away, Wallace speculated on the subjects he felt could be focuses of that event because of the role they are playing in the industry now.
“The topics of interest in two years will likely be DPM and fire simulation … [or] it could also be in the use of belt air, if new legislation is passed in the US,” he said.
The host university, UNR, has made a copy of the meeting’s itinerary including paper topics and presenters available on its website.
