Exclusive Media Release
Botswana will host the Diamonds Still Sparkling Conference, for the second time in six years. The sixth in a series of triennial diamond conferences, Diamonds Still Sparkling 2016 will be held at the Gaborone International Convention Centre form March 14 to 17, and targets the full spectrum of the diamond pipeline, from exploration through to sales and marketing, with workshops featuring presentations by experts in mining and related fields. The conference comprises a workshop on March 14, a two-day conference on March 15 & 16 and a technical visit on March 17.
One such expert, mining advisory SRK Consulting (SA) geotechnical consultant Debbie Olivier, will be presenting a paper on waste rock dump management and stability evaluation at the conference.
Olivier’s paper will describe and evaluate approaches and procedures used for a basalt waste dump life-of-mine design analysis. The paper, while focusing on a Southern African diamond mine operation, will also touch on the evolution of waste dump management, and its progression to a more scientific approach.
The conference will also feature presentations and papers on mine expansion projects, mining, metallurgical and beneficiation technology, rough diamond sales and marketing, cutting and polishing, financial services and industry analysis, as well as industry governance and legislation updates.
Marcin Wertz mining business head SRK Consulting (SA)
The conference – last held in Botswana in 2010 – is organised by professional mining association Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (SAIMM). SRK Consulting will be sponsoring and exhibiting at the event, and SRK’s mining business head Marcin Wertz is on the organising committee. Wertz will also be giving a presentation dealing with the transition from open pit to underground mining at the workshop on the 14th.
The conference, first held in Johannesburg in 2003, started as a biennial event. Johannesburg retained its hosting duties for the 2005 and 2007 iterations. Bypassing 2009, owing to the effects of the world economy falling into global recession in 2008, the conference moved to Gaborone in 2010.
The move was predominantly owed to the fact that Botswana is Africa’s largest diamond producer, but could also be attributed to the dramatic recovery of Botswana’s diamond exports in 2010, especially since all four of its main diamond mines mothballed their operations within the first half of 2009. The conference venue has alternated between Johannesburg and Gaborone ever since.
Prepayment of all registration fees is required on or before the date of the event. Delegates who have not paid will not be permitted to attend the event. The fees cover attendance at all technical sessions and the cocktail parties, all refreshments and lunches, as well as an abstract booklet with a CD containing files on all the papers presented at the conference.
While the registration fees do not include accommodation, all delegates qualify for a discounted rate when booking their own accommodation at the venue. Delegates must indicate that they are part of the conference when booking with a block code at the Metcourt Inn and the Walmont Hotel, located at the Grand Palm Casino and Resort, in Gaborone.
Attendees that are not members of SAIMM are entitled to free membership up until June 30, 2016.
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FACT BOX – About SAIMM
Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy was established in 1894 following the invention of the cyanide process which had saved the gold mining industry in South Africa. The previously used technology of gravity separation could not economically recover gold from the fine grained ores of the Transvaal gold fields. SAIMM’s Journal recorded this process and other major developments in the industry and has disseminated knowledge ever since.
SAIMM is a professional institute with local and international links aimed at assisting members to source news and views about technological developments in the mining, metallurgical and related sectors, as well as embrace a professional code of ethics. SAIMM also attempts to fulfil the aims of its Charter, which deals with ethical and socioeconomic obligations to its broader community.
In addition, the institute is active in bringing together the mining and metallurgical fraternity in terms of research, shared-experiences, and education, by hosting regional events, and its distributing its monthly publication.
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About SRK Consulting www.srk.co.za
SRK Consulting is a leader in natural resource and development solutions, providing independent technical advice and services through over 45 offices in 20 countries, on six continents. With an African presence in Angola and Cameroon, and practices in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana and South Africa, the global group employs more than 1,400 professionals in a range of engineering, scientific, environmental and social disciplines.
CONTACT
Sally Braham
Account manager SRK
SBPR Communications
0116469322