Scheduled for September 21-26 in Ostrava and Prague, the event is being hosted by OKD and HBZS in collaboration with Montanex. The main theme is “Efficient Rescue Actions in Mines”

“This conference is an open forum for an international exchange of experiences among professionals in mine rescue services and is intended for mine rescuers, staff of institutions who deal with safety in mines, employees of universities, research institutes and mining companies extracting hard and brown coal, copper and other raw materials,” organisers said recently, adding that the event would be in English but interpreters would be provided.

While the details of the itinerary are still in the preliminary stages, tours of the Central Mines Rescue Station and the OKD coal mine are scheduled for earlier in the week-long event, with technical sessions planned for Tuesday through to Thursday, and social activities on the Friday.

The last International Mines Rescue Conference was held in August 2007 and was hosted by the National Mining Association at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. It was the first time a US city had been chosen for the gathering.