There are some excellent speakers over nine sessions covering a broad range of topics from technical and operational through to planning and strategy. Additionally, the partners? program and social events are complimented by the location in the Hunter vineyards.
The conference is only possible with the generous support of all of our sponsors, each of whom is a significant part of our industry. Our major events include:
? The Hitachi Welcome Reception on the Wednesday night.
? The Komatsu Offsite Conference Dinner on Thursday.
? The Caterpillar Gala Awards Dinner on the Friday.
? The IQA/Australian Institute of Quarrying Education Foundation Carnival Dinner on the Saturday night.
Together with the CJD registration desk, the Orica partners? day and our other sponsors and exhibitors, this year?s conference is looking exceptional.
The technical program of this year?s conference will commence on Thursday with essentially an introduction to the theme ?Tomorrow?s Resources Today? and identifying the future resource challenges. Friday morning will be devoted to the requirements for gaining access to, retaining and developing quarry reserves and people. This is followed up on Friday afternoon with a site visit.
One area where the program this year differs from previous years is the inclusion of ?Super Saturday?, a full day program with a final, less formal function on the Saturday evening.
An extensive program is scheduled for this Super Saturday with 18 national and international speakers in total. This has been carefully designed to take the audience from the quarry face to the final products, concluding with quarry management issues. The purpose of the day is to look at innovation and best practice that will aid us in optimising the utilisation of our quarry reserves and improve efficiency.
The Saturday program is targeting all levels of industry management from well-established senior and middle managers through to the people that are new to the industry, quarry employees in supervisory positions and students. It also allows those who may not attend the Thursday or Friday sessions, or who don?t normally have the opportunity to benefit from the national conference, to attend as day delegates.
The conference concludes with a Carnival Party on Saturday evening, where foods from around the world will be sampled together with tastings of local wines, beers and music. This is an excellent opportunity to discuss the events and topics of the previous days and mingle with old and new friends.
Finally, to assist people with their planning and travel arrangements, luxury coaches have been booked for Sunday morning to transport interstate and international colleagues to Sydney Airport by lunchtime. If you require this service, the appropriate inclusions are in the registration forms. Alternatively, if you have not already indicated/discussed your requirements, please contact the registrar.
On behalf of the IQA, I look forward to seeing you in the Hunter Valley next month.
DAVID CILENTO
President
Institute of Quarrying Australia