Almost 300 individuals from across the mining industry gathered at the Lakeview Golf Resort and Spa in Morgantown July 27-29, representing 14 countries, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Liechtenstein, Mexico, The Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.

“This international conference, the vision of Professor Syd Peng [of] West Virginia University, was started in 1981 to bring together the mining community to discuss and promote technologies and strategies for ensuring the stability of surrounding rock formations during mining operations,” one of the organizers, Steve Tadolini, told ILN.

“Presenters and attendees at this conference represent a true who’s who of the ground control for mining,” he said, noting that guests were treated to top-quality presentations from 45 well-known engineers and scientists.

As in past years, the topics covered at the conference encompassed virtually all areas of ground control, including but not limited to, mine design, roof bolting and numerical modeling.

Each guest received a color copy of the conference’s proceedings on a flash drive as well as via hard copy.

Tadolini coordinated the 29th event in tandem with Thomas Barczak; both have been involved with the conference for decades and studied under Peng at WVU.

Both told ILN they would continue steering the technical event as it moves into its third decade of existence.

The 30th International Conference for Ground Control in Mining is already in the planning phase, along with several special events to mark the milestone. It has been set for July 26-28, 2011, at its regular home in Morgantown.