Co-presented by the Pittsburgh Coal Mining Institute of America (PCMIA) and the Pittsburgh Section of the Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration (SME), this year’s conference will focus of the prevention of mine emergencies, future opportunities for mining professionals and mine emergency response.

Some scheduled presentations include:

Murray Energy emergency preparedness manager William Moser: Fire Brigade Program

Consol Energy fire prevention manager William Tolliver: Mine Fire Preparedness

Foundation Coal safety director John Gallick: How Does the Safety Culture Impact Emergency Prevention

CSE president Sam Shearer: Self-Contained Self-Rescue (SCSR) New Technology

University of Kentucky president Andrzej Wala: Mine Fire Modeling

Some top industry names will also be offering keynote addresses throughout the two-day event, including West Virginia Office of Miners’ Health Safety and Training acting director James Dean and Murray Energy’s Century mine superintendent Ryan Murray, who will offer comments to students during an awards ceremony.

SME will hold its traditional awards luncheon to wrap up the event, including recognition for students as well as 25- and 50-year members of the organisation. The group will also confer appreciation recognition and honor a distinguished member for 2006.

The conference will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn Southpointe, just south of Pittsburgh, with an early October deadline in place for registration and fees.

For more information, visit http://www.smepittsburgh.org or contact NIOSH’s Jurgen Brune at jbrune@cdc.gov, (412) 286-4922.

Check back with International Longwall News for further details on the conference as well as reports from the event.