“We had 275 attendees at the conference this year, which was great,” co-chair Dr Steve Tadolini told ILN of the gathering, which took place on July 28-30 at the Lakeview Scanticon Resort in Morgantown.

“Thirty of those were from 15 different countries representing mining interests from around the world. We continue to generate a very strong interest because the conference addresses issues that are important to advance mining safety and efficiencies well into the next decade.”

A total of 45 presentations were classified under several umbrella headings, such as pillar design/evaluation, roof support design/evaluation, longwall mining, roof/roof skin control, mine design, risk assessment and multiple seam issues. Mine seals and subsidence were also hot topics.

The International Conference on Ground Control in Mining was established by West Virginia University’s Dr Syd Peng in 1981 to bring operators, academia, researchers, manufacturers, government regulators and consultants together to exchange ideas and information about ground control.

Tadolini said the organisers had inked an agreement with the Lakeview to hold the conference at the resort for the next three years.