The stored information is a valuable resource, especially for professionals engaged in research in remote parts of Australia as well as emerging coal-developing nations, he said.

“These websites provide access to a huge numbers of publication, technology development and innovation information,” Aziz said.

“There are now a few thousand publications on these websites, most coming from conferences, seminars and other Australian-based publications and powerpoint presentations.

“The University of Wollongong coal mining websites are now truly the library for the distant and remote access.”

The online coal conference website, https://ro.uow.edu.au/coal, now holds 431 records and these papers have been downloaded a total 265,000 times by January 2013. It is now the seventh most frequently visited website at the University’s Research Online website.

“This access is not confined to Australia alone,” Aziz said.

“Other countries making frequent access include USA, China, UK, Germany and Iran. More than 130 countries have accessed the conference publications.”

Thirty-five out of the total of 52 papers are being presented in seven technical sessions at Coal 2013. All published papers in the proceedings will be online in about a month, Aziz said.

While the 140 who attended the conference this year is down on last year’s figure, the digital storage of the papers ensures that the research is shared throughout the industry, he said. The ongoing future of the conference also remains bright.

“There has been a small drop in the participant numbers this year, this is expected in view of the current state of the coal mining industry in Australia,” he said.

“From next year the conference days will be extended to three days starting Wednesday and ending on Friday.”