Having a sufficent skilled laborers is a major concern in the global mining industry and that is why it is part of the topics to be discussed at the 10th International Conference on Mineral Processing, Procemin 2013, to be held from October 15 to 18 in Santiago de Chile.
One of the plenary talks will present the work done by the Education Commission of the International Mineral Processing Council (IMPC), created to study and determine the supply and demand of global human capital for this specialty. Data was collected from universities around the world in order to determine the current status as well as a 5-year projection.
The data collected include a number of statistics, such as the proportion of female graduates, an estimation of the proportion of graduates entering the mining industry and the demand for these professionals. Among the conclusions reached, emphasis is put on the global shortage of mineral processing engineers and that this shortage will require a specific recruitment and training adapted to local conditions for all regions.
Another outstanding plenary is the one addressing KGHM’s expansion strategy to become a world producer of copper and silver. KGHM owns one of the largest copper deposits in the world and has ensured the continuity of the production in Poland over the next 40 years. All of their assets are located on three continents, with development projects in Poland, Canada, Chile and Greenland.
The most important strategic objective that will be announced at Procemin includes the improved productivity on top of the basis of national mineral resources and the development of the global resource base. With this strategy they hope to become a major international copper mining company.
Procemin 2013 is chaired by Claudio Garcia, Deputy Plant Manager of Sierra Gorda, Chile and is organized by the Mining Engineering Department of the University of Chile and Gecamin.
The conference features a technical program consisting of 62 presentations from 19 countries, a previous course called "grinding based Models for design and geometallurgy power" and a technical visit to Minera Valle Central.
