Registration for the 2015 SME Annual Conference and Expo and CMA 117th National Western Mining Conference in Denver, CO Feb. 15-18 opened on Oct. 1.

The conference will take place at the Colorado Convention Center and annually attracts global leaders from the mining industry. This year, the conference will kick off with a keynote session that eyes the future of the industry. Titled “The mine of the future: Forecasting opportunities and challenges for the global mining industry,” the session on Monday, Feb. 16 will include a panel featuring Richard Adkerson, vice chairman, president & CEO, Freeport-McMoRan, ?Brian Conlin, president and CEO, Golder Assoc (invited), ?Christopher Curfman, vice president mining sales & support division, Caterpillar, ?John Eaves, president and CEO, Arch Coal?, Barry Hudson, director of aggregates Northern Europe, HeidelbergCement? and Daniel Moncino, vice-president, filtration & performance additives business group, Imerys (invited).

This panel of global leaders will speak about the entire scope of the industry and the opportunities and challenges that the industry will face in the years ahead.

SME will partner with the Colorado Mining Association for the event and attendees will find a robust event featuring an vibrant exhibit floor, the SME bookstore and more than 100 short courses.
Five two-day short courses and two one-day short courses will precede the conference. Topics for the two-day courses are: Copper heap leach; Mine to mill process optimization; Mining hydrogeology; Safety, troubleshooting and preventative maintenance, reliability and efficiency improvements for critical conveyors and Ore reserve risk and optimization in strategic mine planning. One-day short courses are: Working smart with big data — The future for mining and Seismic analysis and design of tailings dams.

To register for the conference visit the SME homepage at www.smenet.org.