The Heart of British Mining


The premier UK event for the mining supply chain was held in Nottingham on 21 November 2019, and brought together over 200 delegates from the mining industry to share best practice and knowledge.

 

Keynote speakers included Graham Clarke, Kevin Sabin and Chris Hinde. The latter, a director of Pick and Pen Ltd, used data from S&P Global Market Intelligence to provide an overview of current market trends, and illustrate the increase in global expenditure on mining equipment over the past few years. Graham Clarke, Operations Director at Sirius Minerals, which is working on the UK's biggest mining project at the moment, gave the audience a concise, honest overview of the financial and production situation of polyhalite at the Woodsmith Mine in North Yorkshire. He stressed that, with so much potential for the country and the local community at stake, a rescue plan needs to be sourced.

 

With the world’s population forecast to reach 9 billion by 2040, the demand for food production will only increase. Andrew Fulton of ICL UK, gave an overview of that company’s successful mining of polyhalite, used to make fertiliser, in the north east of the UK. Kevin Sabin illustrated how Hargreaves has transferred the skills of a highly mechanised longwall mine in Maltby Colliery to coal mines in countries such as India and Poland. Other UK mining companies presenting included West Cumbria Mining and Cornish Lithium. The former announced that planning permission had been granted to allow West Cumbria to extract coal from beneath the sea off Whitehaven. The founder and CEO of Cornish Lithium, Jeremy Wrathall, outlined the growing need for lithium, and the exciting potential in Cornwall.

 

The mixture of miners, equipment manufacturers, commodity analysts, financiers and safety experts provided an important networking opportunity. A highlight of the event was ABMEC's inaugural Lifetime Achievers Award, which was presented to David Johnson for services to the mining-equipment sector. Among many achievements in his distinguished career, under his leadership Joy Mining Machinery introduced the electric shearer, the continuous miner and the bolter miner to the UK, Europe, Russia and India. He was instrumental in pioneering completely new methods of mining in these countries dramatically increasing productivity and improving operator safety.

 

www.abmec.org.uk

 

Related articles:

New Vice President at ABMEC

ABMEC (formerly the Association of British Mining Equipment Companies) has appointed Kevin Sabin as its new Vice President. Kevin replaces Dr Paul Freeman, who recently took over as the organisation's...

more
Issue 10/2015

Mining culture in the Erzgebirge

Hardly any other landscape in Germany has been shaped by ore mining like the Erzgebirge (Ore Mountains) in Saxony. This region has been ‘married’ to mining for more than 800 years. When, according...

more
Issue 07-08/2023 Processing contaminated ore

TOMRA Mining technology to be installed in the world’s largest Lithium sorting plant

TOMRA Mining’s experience in the design and installation of large-scale ore sorting plants and its collaborative approach was the key to the successful design of the world’s largest lithium sorting...

more

ABMEC’s Annual General Meeting proved positive and record breaking

With 49 member companies, the Trade Association for the mining industry is the largest it has been for more than 30 years. Members recognised the changing landscape of the organisation, most notably...

more

Mining and Minerals Hall (MMH) – event for XXI century mining

MMH (Mining and Minerals Hall), which will take place at Seville Conference and Exhibition Centre (FIBES), from 15th to 17th October 2019, is the world meeting that will gather the present and future...

more