Overview and 2025 highlights of M&E standing committees

SME is home to a number of standing committees that support the programming and initiatives of the Society and its divisions. Representatives for each division, including the Mining & Exploration (M&E) Division, comprise the members of the standing committees. Many of the committees conduct an annual meeting at the MINEXCHANGE SME Annual Conference & Expo and collaborate throughout the year on important issues that are pertinent to the mining industry.Below are 2025 highlights from two of these standing committees: The SME Professional Engineers Committee has the duty and responsibility of updating the SME PE Study Guide on a seven-year cycle and the SME Mining Reference Handbook on an annual basis for the professional engineering examination for Mining and Mineral Processing (MMP) engineering administered by National Council of Examiners for Engineering and Surveying (NCEES). In the December 2024 issue of Mining Engineering, the committee published an informative article on “Professional Engineer licensure: To license or not to license?” authored by William P. “Bill” Balaz Jr., P.E., and Russell J. Sheets, P.E., discussing the important role of professional engineers in the mining industry and encouraging students or practicing engineers to pursue a P.E. license. The committee is also focused on updating the Study Guide for the Professional Licensure of Mining and Mineral Processing Engineers, 9th Edition (available at https://store.smenet.org/23nh4qo/). The Student Member Affairs Committee provides career guidance, suggests and coordinates student activities, and exercises general supervision over SME student chapters. Members of the committee serve as judges for the annual SME Outstanding Student Chapter Contest and the SME Outstanding Student Paper Contest, undergraduate and graduate divisions. This vibrant and active committee had five new international student chapters developed and approved in 2024. The committee also organized student chapters for various activities, including the: (1) SME/NSSGA Competition (first place University of Kentucky, second place West Virginia University, third place Virginia Tech), (2) Metallic Design Competition (first place Missouri University of Science and Technology, second place University of Arizona, third place University of Kentucky, (3) Outstanding Student Chapter Report (winner University of Minnesota Twin Cities), (4) fall SME Membership Challenge, resulting in more than 450 new and renewed SME student members, and (5) SME Virtual Student Conference on “Connecting Mining: GenZ and Beyond.” Several other standing committees are summarized below: The Government Relations and Public Affairs Committee helps leverage the expertise of its membership to create a system for providing timely, accurate, fact-based and nonpartisan technical information in response to urgent inquiries from SME stakeholders on topics concerning mining, minerals and extractive industries. It has developed a structured program to create technical briefing papers for informing and educating SME audiences. The Journal Oversight Committee provides input and feedback on the strategic direction of SME’s Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration (MME) journal, the quality of the journal, and inclusivity of authors and topics, and ensures the journal represents the breadth of SME. The Mining Engineering Committee reviews papers or finds reviewers for papers at the request of the Mining Engineering magazine staff. It supports the staff by providing advice and input regarding overall magazine issues, including but not limited to potential writers and topics for technical and feature articles, industry trends, potential advertisers, and issues referred to the committee by staff. The Sustainable Development Committee pursues two specific areas: (1) the development, monitoring and assessment of sustainable development criteria for mineral operations, and (2) the development and dissemination of best operating practices for sustainable development. The Inclusion & Diversity Committee promotes advancement and innovation in the mining community by strengthening inclusion and improving diversity in SME.

Overview and 2025 highlights of M&E standing committees

Authored by: Lia Walker

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Submit to MINEXCHANGE 2027 proceedings and Environmental Division Student Poster Contest

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