MIN WIN-WIN conference

MIN WIN‐WIN: ESTABLISHING EUROPE‐WIDE MINERALS REPORTING STANDARDS – THE KEY TO REDUCING RISK AND INCREASING OPPORTUNITY

20‐21 November (20th afternoon, 21st morning and afternoon)


 

Venue:

Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Rue Vautier 29, B‐1000 Brussels

 

Organisers:

European Federation of Geologists (EFG) & Pan‐European Reserves & Resources Reporting Committee (PERC)

 

Supporting organisations:

Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO), Euromines, Geological Survey of Belgium – Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Geological Society of London (GSL), Institute of Geologists of Ireland (IGI), Industrial Minerals Association (IMA), Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) Task Group on Global Geoscience Professionalism, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)

The continuing rise in global population and living standards, as well as technological innovation, leads to increasing requirements for a broader range of metals, minerals and other raw materials.
EU manufacturing and improved positioning of EU enterprises in the global value chain is currently highly dependent on imports of mineral raw materials from outside Europe. This dependency is associated with the contraction of primary mining in the EU over several decades, driven by lower costs outside the EU and pressures to protect the natural environment within the EU. Increasingly, EU supply chains for raw materials are adversely affected by growing demand pressure from emerging economies and by an increasing number of national policy measures that disrupt the normal operation of supply chains. This dependence on supply chains that are largely beyond EU control gives rise to risks related to security of raw materials supply, but also highlights opportunities for expanding primary extraction and recycling within the EU in line with sustainable development objectives.

In this context, the European Commission launched the European Raw Materials Initiative (RMI) in 2008. The principal objectives of the RMI are:
– to stabilize long‐term commodity prices by removing market distortions;
– to provide alternative approaches to meeting demand;
– to support the transition to a low carbon and resource‐efficient economy.

The RMI itself is structured around three pillars:
– access to raw materials on world markets;
– increasing the sustainable supply of raw materials from within the EU;
– enhancing resource efficiency and promoting recycling.

Fundamental to the second pillar of the RMI is an improved knowledge base of mineral deposits at EU level. Any improved knowledge base requires comparability and harmonization of national reporting where this includes information relevant to the exploration for and the exploitation of primary mineral resources. To face this challenge, standard definitions and approaches for the estimation and reporting of mineral reserves and resources is vital to ensure data comparability and of ensuring consistency at a range of scales and with a range of objectives:
– Maximising opportunities at EU or Member State level ‐ updating raw material resource inventories, and developing and implementing spatial planning policies aiming to avoid sterilization of raw materials that could be exploited sustainably;
– Reducing risk and creating opportunities at financial market level – ensuring that investors have access to reliable information to underpin investment decisions, and providing regulators with consistent information to ensure the highest standards;
– Reducing risk and creating opportunities at company level and for regulators – maintaining mineral resource information using a standard basis that is suitable for business planning and monitoring, regulatory compliance and return of reliable and relevant information to planners and policy makers.

This conference aimed to promote the adoption of a common reporting standard in the EU. Such an approach will contribute to the convergence of terminology and the comparability/compatibility of data, thus facilitating the creation of a solid European Knowledge Database on mineral resources and to the successful delivery of the RMI. Such harmonization is equally important to government policy‐makers and to companies within the minerals industry ‐ the users and the providers of data on mineral resources and reserves.

Thursday 20 November

13:00 – Registration

13:30 – Words of Welcome

1. Introduction to the RMI and progress so far (Chairperson: Vítor Correia, EFG President)

14:00 – Keynote speaker: Reinhard Bütikofer (MEP, European Parliament)
14:30 – Keynote speaker: Carlo Pettinelli (Directorate G, DG Enterprise and Industry, European Commission)
15:00 – RMI Implementation and progress so far – Slavko Solar (Unit F.3, Raw Materials, Metals, Minerals and Forest-based industries, DG Enterprise and Industry, EC)
15:20 – Q & A Session and Discussion

15:40 – Coffee break

2. Minerals supply chains and variability of information sources, public data and reporting requirements across the EU (Chairperson: Nicholas Arndt, Coordinator outreach activities, European Geosciences Union)

16:00 – Geo Data as a key information source for multi-sector economic development, prospectivity mapping and mineral valuation – Keynote speaker: Francisco Igualada (World Bank, Sustainable Energy Department Oil, Gas and Mining)
16:30 – European Reporting of Mineral Assets – Experiences of a global diversified industrial minerals company – Owen Herod (Imerys)
16:50 – Reporting Industrial Minerals from value impact for a mineral company, to value impact for Europe – Pim Demecheleer (Geology Director, Sibelco Europe)
17:10 – Resources and Life Cycle Assessment – Johannes Drielsma (Euromines)
17:30 – Q & A Session and Discussion

20:00 – Social dinner at the Café des Epices close to the conference venue (cost 30€ per person)

 

Friday 21 November

3. National economic policies, governance structures and the EU minerals knowledge database (Chairperson: Michelle Wyart, IMA Secretary General)

09:00 – Down to the ground: Geological surveys’ contribution to the EU minerals knowledge database – Keynote speaker: Manuel Regueiro (EuroGeoSurveys, IGME)
09:30 – Implications of the ERA-MIN Roadmap on primary and secondary raw materials knowledge base – Támas Hámor (Hungarian Office for Mining and Geology)
09:50 – Minventory project – Paul Lusty (BGS)
10:10 – Policy and regulation of Ireland’s exploration and mining sector – Eibhlin Doyle (Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources)
10:30 – Q & A Session and Discussion

11:00 – Coffee break

4. Stock exchanges, commodity markets, and financial systems, and their need for reliable and consistent minerals data (Chairperson: Paul Lusty, BGS)

11:30 – Is reliable and consistent data the holy grail and will investors thank you for it – Keynote speaker: Michael Lynch-Bell (Chair at Kazakhmys plc)
12:00 – Explorers, Investors and Regulators – An Uneasy Threesome – John Clifford (Exploration Manager – Europe and Central Asia for Antofagasta Minerals)
12:20 – Public Reporting at Rio Tinto , the benefits of aligned international resource reporting codes – Adam Duffin (Chief Geoscientist, Rio Tinto)
12:40 – Reporting Dimension Stones – Marco Cosi (Alpiconsult Stones Consulting)-

13:10 – Lunch break

5. The PERC reporting standard, CRIRSCO, and the UNFC classification (Chairperson: Slavko Solar, DG Enterprise and Industry, European Commission)

14:00 – Improving fossil energy and minerals management by integrating the CRIRSCO template classifications and the UN Framework Classification for Fossil Energy and Mineral Reserves and Resources – Keynote speaker: Sigurd Heiberg (Petronavitas a.s)
14:30 – PERC – the CRIRSCO-aligned minerals reporting standard designed for use in Europe – Eddie Bailey (PERC Chairman)
14:50 – Reporting standards, codes, systems, and classifications: conversion, bridging, and mapping – Stephen Henley (Resources Computing International Ltd, PERC Past President)

15:10 – Coffee break

6. “Best Practice”, ethics and the role of skilled geoscientists (Chairperson: Stephen Henley, Resources Computing International Ltd, PERC Past President)

15:30 – “Best Practice” ethics and the role of skilled geoscientists – Keynote speaker: Ruth Allington (IUGS – TG)
16:00 – EurGeol as competent person – Isabel Fernández (EFG Executive Director)
16:20 – Discussion Panel with keynote speakers (Chaired by Deborah McCombe)
17:00 – Conclusions – Deborah McCombe (President and CEO, Principal Geologist Roscoe Postle Associates Inc., and the past Chair of Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO))

Presentations from speakers representing a range of relevant European policy areas linked to solid mineral raw materials, as well as from experts drawn from EU regulatory authorities (including those of Member States), were given. There were also contributions from representatives of financial investment companies, the mining industry and academia.

 Reinhard Bütikofer, MEP, European Parliament

Reinhard Bütikofer is Co-Chair of the European Green Party (EGP) and a Member of the European Parliament for the German Greens. He is a member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy and a substitute member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs as well as the Subcommittee on Security and Defense and the Subcommittee on Human Rights. He sits on the Delegation for Relations with the United States as well as the Delegation for Relations with China. Mr Bütikofer is Rapporteur on Raw Materials as well as Rapporteur on European Industrial Policy and EU-ASEAN Relations for the European Parliament. He is the Green Group’s spokesperson on industrial policy. From 2002 until 2008 Mr. Bütikofer was the national party chairman of the German Green Party. He was secretary general from 1998 until 2002. Prior to that he was the state chairman of the Green Party in Baden-Württemberg. He served as a member of the Baden-Württemberg state parliament from 1988 until 1996. His career with the Green Party began when he was elected to the city council of Heidelberg in 1984.

Carlo Pettinelli, DG Enterprise and Industry, European Commission

Carlo Pettinelli is an official of the European Commission. He holds a University degree (Laurea) in Economy and Business Administration and is a Chartered Accountant (Dottore Commercialista), Certified Professional Auditor (Revisore contabile) and Certified Forensic Auditor. After several years of professional experience in the private sector, in Italy and abroad, he joined the European Court of Auditors in 1994.
In 1998 he moved to the European Commission where, dealing with different tasks, he worked in the Directorates-General for Competition, Audit, Education & Culture and Employment & Social Affairs, where he has been appointed Director. Carlo Pettinelli joined the Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry in February 2011. Since 1st October 2012 he is responsible for “Sustainable Growth and EU 2020” (Directorate ENTR.B). He is in charge of the Construction Industry, Ecodesign legislation and Mobility industries (motor vehicles) as well as of Innovation policy for enterprises, the analysis of competitiveness for enterprises and the coordination of EU policies for standardisation, among other sectors.

Slavko Solar, Unit F.3, Raw Materials, Metals, Minerals and Forest-based industries, DG Enterprise and Industry, EC

Dr. Slavko Solar is a Mineral Resource Geologist employed by the Geological Survey of Slovenia. He was a consultant and adviser to the Slovenian government and industry on minerals, resource management, sustainability, indicators, spatial planning, and stakeholders’ communication on the national (as a coordinator of Slovenian Public Mining Service). At the European level he represented Slovenian Government and Geological Survey in many to minerals related groups such as the Raw Materials Supply Group, Mineral Resources Expert Group of EuroGeoSurveys, etc. Since October 2012 he is a seconded national expert to the European Commission, DG Enterprise and Industry, Unit F3 that is in charge of raw materials. He is mainly dealing with the 2nd pillar of Raw Materials Initiative that is mineral policy framework conditions and the EU raw materials knowledge base. He has an extensive list of publications related to his expertise in the journals and conference proceedings.

Nicholas Arndt, Coordinator outreach activities, European Geosciences Union

Nicholas Arndt was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto in Canada in 1975. Following a year in an Australian mineral exploration company and academic positions in the United States, Canada, Australia and Germany, he became a Professor at the Université de Rennes 1, France, in 1990. In 1998 he moved to the Université de Grenoble. His research interests include petrology and geochemistry of mafic and ultramafic rocks, magmatic ore deposits, and the early-Earth environment.
Professor Arndt’s professional activities include direction of an ICDP project “Scientific Drilling in the Barberton Belt” (2009- ), a Research Program of European Science Foundation “Archean Environment: the Habitat of Early Life” (2005-2010); member of the Science Committee of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (2008-2010); member of the Science Committee of CNRS Planetology Program (2009- ); President of the GMPV Division, European Geosciences Union (2011 – ); member of a Working Group on Raw Materials, French Ministry of Education; director of the European Ore Deposits Initiative. He is an ISI “Highly cited researcher”; Member of Academia Europaea; Elected fellow of the Geochemical Society; Senior member of the Institut Univérsitaire de France.

Francisco Igualada, World Bank, Sustainable Energy Department Oil, Gas and Mining

Francisco Igualada is Senior Specialist working for the World Bank’s Mining Department and has 30 years of technical, managerial and executive experience in leading large multidisciplinary project teams on multiple programs providing strategic direction in different countries, companies and organisations. He is working as resident geosciences technical expert on cadaster, project/ asset valuation, geological assessments, mineral exploration, geochemical & geophysical surveys, geo-spatial databases /geological mapping and GIS/3D modeling. Francisco is supporting lending and non-lending instruments, negotiations with governments and developing business in the mining and oil & gas sector.Francisco obtained an MSc in Exploration Geology/Geophysics (Univ. Barcelona, Spain) and worked for Dames & Moore Environmental firm and Spain’s Geological Survey (IGME). Later he worked for the Geological Survey of South Africa in base metals, gold and copper exploration as well as various types of geophysical surveys in RSA & Botswana. Thereafter, he obtained the Dipl. MSc in Engineering Geology and Geo-Information at I.T.C. Enschede (Univ. Utretch, The Netherlands). He joined the firm TRACASA S.A. working in mining cadastre, exploration, geological mapping and environmental impact and worked for the firm AURENSA on mineral resources, GIS, geological & geochemical surveys and target generation reports. In 1993 he completed a research MPhil/PhD programme (Cranfield Univ. United Kingdom) and joined the EUSC (European Union, Satellite Centre) as project analyst & manager in mineral/oil resources assessments and geospatial intelligence linked to worldwide geostrategic conflicts. In 2000 he obtained a MBA Int´l Executive at ESCP-EAP, European Business School, and soon afterwards, he joined the United Nations as Chief Geospatial Analysis- in HQ, and various African countries (Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Rep. Dem. of Congo and Senegal). Moreover, during 2005-07 he worked in U.N. HQ New York, as mapping manager and as Chief of the Geospatial Information Centre of U.N. Peace-keeping Operations, Logistic Base in Brindisi, Italy with responsibilities in 17 offices supporting GIS field geological mapping, engineering and logistics. Francisco is EurGeol-(EFG) and lectured at Polytechnic Univ. of Madrid, providing specialised training to UN & in Ibero-American countries.

Owen Herod, Group Geologist IMERYS

Owen is Group Geologist at Imerys, a diversified industrial minerals company. He is currently managing their Corporate Geology team with responsibilities for group wide Reserve and Resource reporting and auditing. Prior to joining Imerys he worked in Australia as a geologist consultant.

Johannes A Drielsma, Deputy Director Euromines

Since 2005 Johannes A Drielsma is Deputy Director of the Brussels based European Association of Mining Industries (Euromines). In this function he serves as associate member of the International Council on Mining & Metals (ICMM), observer to the UNECE and the OECD and member of the European Union Raw Materials Supply Group. Johannes Drielsma graduated as Bachelor of Engineering in Environmental Engineering at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, in 1995 and obtained several years of professional experience as Environmental Engineer.

Dr. Michelle Wyart-Remy (Chairperson), Director and Secretary General IMA-Europe

Dr. Michelle Wyart-Remy is Director and Secretary General of IMA-Europe since its creation in 1994, while also continuing her responsibilities as EUROTALC Secretary General since 1979. She is also the Secretary General of the European Speciality Mineral Association (ESMA).
Michelle holds a PhD in Sciences in Organic Physical Chemistry from the Free University of Brussels (1976). She is the Sherpa of Jean-Luc Deleersnyder (Sibelco), member of the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials High Level Steering Group. She is the industrial minerals sector appointed expert in the European Commission Raw Materials Supply Group (RMSG) and in the Ad Hoc Group on Criticality and Ad Hoc Expert Group on Exchange of Good Practices in Land Planning and Mineral Policy. Michelle is a member of the Board of A.SPIRE the Public Private Partnership on Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency of which IMA-Europe is a founding member. She is the co-chair of the European Network on Silica (NEPSI) Council and a member of the Standing Working Party of the Extractive Industry (SWPEI) of the Advisory Committee on safety and health at work (ACSH). She also acts as IMA representative in the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee for the Extractive Industry (SSDCEI).

Manuel Regueiro, EuroGeoSurveys

Professor Manuel Regueiro holds a BSc Geology from the Complutese University of Madrid (1979). Since 2005 he is the Chief of External Affairs of the Geological Survey of Spain (IGME), although he has been working (and still works) the last 20 years as a specialist on industrial minerals and rocks in the former Industrial Minerals and Rocks Department of the Mineral Resources Division of the Spanish Geological Survey and as Associate Professor of the Department of Crystallography and Mineralogy of the School of Geology of the Complutense University of Madrid, where he lectured on subjects such as Mining Geology in 5th course of Geology and Mineral Raw Materials in 1st course of Material Engineering.

Támas Hámor, Hungarian Office for Mining and Geology

Dr. Támas Hámor is a geologist mining engineer, post-graduate economist and jurist engineer, a Ph.D. in earth sciences. He works at the Hungarian Office for Mining and Geology as head of Division of Management & Legal Affairs. Former occupations involve European Commission Joint Research Centre; Hungarian Geological Survey; Geological Institute of Hungary. His professional experience covers EU raw material policies, geothermal energy, nuclear and mining wastes, public administration and legislation. He is active at numerous EU expert groups, projects and evaluation panels (RMI-EIP, shale gas group, ERA-MIN co-chair, RMSG, Horizon2020, TAIEX, mining waste TAC, ALTENER GTR-H, SEE SARMA, EFG, EIT-KIC). His other international activities are related to UN IAEA and CSD, UNESCO IGCP and IUGS, OECD NEA, NATO ASI. He is the author of 96 publications. He is an honorary associate professor of Miskolc University, and the first co-president of the Geological Society of Hungary.

Paul Lusty (Chairperson), British Geological Survey

Paul Lusty is an Economic Geologist at the British Geological Survey (BGS) where he leads the Ore Deposits and Commodities Team. He is responsible for formulating and directing multidisciplinary research on ‘critical’ raw materials, with an emphasis on improving understanding of ore deposit formation, and provision of data and analysis to inform lifecycle research, criticality assessment and policy making. He has extensive commercial and research experience in the minerals sector, primarily focused on exploration for metals, ore deposit research, resource evaluation, and analysis of the supply-demand dynamics and economics of a range of minerals vital to the economy. He manages the BGS–University of Exeter Critical Metals Alliance, an initiative to improve UK capability in critical metals research. He is involved in the European Rare Earths Competency Network (ERECON), and is a member of the Pan-European Reserves & Resources Reporting Committee (PERC).

Eibhlin Doyle, Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources

EurGeol Dr. Eibhlin Doyle PGeo is Principal Geologist and leader of the Technical Section of the Exploration and Mining Division of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. She has worked in minerals exploration and development with a number of companies: Barymin, Conroy Petroleum and Natural Resources (later to become Arcon) with whom she discovered the Galmoy zinc-lead deposit in Co. Kilkenny, with BHP where she was the company’s exploration manager for Ireland. She joined the Geological Survey Ireland and had responsibilities for the Groundwater, Marine and Minerals Sections. She was appointed to her current position to lead the Technical staff of the Exploration and Mining Division in 2009 which regulates the minerals sector in Ireland.

Michael Lynch-Bell, Chair at Kazakhmys plc

Michael Lynch-Bell has extensive experience in the mining and oil & gas sectors having spent his whole 38 year career with EY developing and later leading its Global mining and energy practices. He also led EY’s UK IPO practice where he was involved in over 100 stock exchange related transactions. Michael retired as a senior partner of EY in 2012. Michael is Senior Independent Director and Audit committee Chair at Kazakhmys plc and audit committee chair at Seven Energy Limited and Lenta Limited. He is also a board member and honorary treasurer of Action Aid International and ex Officio Chair of the UN Expert Group on Resource Classification.

John Clifford, Exploration Manager – Europe and Central Asia for Antofagasta Minerals

John Clifford is an Economic Geologist with over 40 years’ experience in the mineral resource sector. To-date he has completed assignments in 41 countries, with a focus on Europe and Latin America. Through his career he has been fortunate to be part of the teams that made discoveries, or defined initial resources, at a number of projects. These include Curraghinalt, Northern Ireland (1983); Cononish, Scotland (1985); El Tesoro, Chile (1995); Cerro Negro, Argentina (2005) and Caracoles Project, Chile (2006).
He is a former President of the Irish Association for Economic Geology (1977) and the Institute of Geologists of Ireland (2001-2003). He has served as a member of the governing council of the European Federation of Geologists, and as a member of the Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards, the United Nations – Economic Commission for Europe and the Pan-European Reporting Committee.
He is a Professional Geologist member of the IGI, a EurGeol member of the EFG, a UK Chartered Engineer, and a Fellow of the Institute of Material, Mining and Metallurgy, the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy and of the Society of Economic Geology.
He is currently Exploration Manager – Europe and Central Asia for Antofagasta Minerals, the leading Chilean copper producer.

Adam Duffin, Chief Geoscientist, Rio Tinto

Adam Duffin has worked as a geologist in the mineral exploration and evaluation industry for over 30 years covering a wide range of countries and commodities including diamonds, gold, copper and base metals, uranium, potash and nickel amongst others. The last 20 years have been spent with Rio Tinto in work ranging from grass roots exploration through to pre-feasibility studies and has included the modelling and reporting of resources under the JORC code as a Competent Person.

Marco Cosi, Alpiconsult Stones Consulting

Marco Cosi is geologist, mining & quarrying and energy specialist, construction materials, industrial minerals, dimension stones specialist, metal and gold expl. Structural expert, marketing expert, Institutional and SME capacity Expert.
He is member of the Institution of Italian Geologists (Ordine dei Geoloigi. N. 224 – Ordine dei Geologi del Veneto-Italia) since 1984 – Registered Institution to EFG (European Federation of Geologist) for Geo-mining Official Due Diligence and CPR Reports.
He is individual member of the European Federation of Geologists (EFG) as Eurogeologist N. 1090, since 2013; member of JOSTONE Jordanian Stone Producers Association and member of AFRISTONE African Dimension Stone Players and Consultants.
Present position:
Independent Consultant of Alpiconsult Stones Consulting – Individual entity; Partner in WoDA s.r.l. Consulting Company (www.woda.it) – Technical Director of Mining Department and Vice President.
Years within the firm:
8 years, employed by AGIP MINING S.p.A, AGIP S.p.A, AGIP NUCLEARE S.p.A. as exploration & mining geologist;
As independent individual consultant 25 years as Geological-Mining-Marketing Consulting in ALPICONSULT Stone (from 1987 to date);
Partner of WoDA s.r.l since 2008.

Eddie Bailey, PERC Chairman

Eddie Bailey graduated with a 2:1 Honours Degree in Geology from the University of Exeter, England in June 1989. In July 1989 he joined Tarmac Plc, the UK’s largest aggregates and construction materials company, and began his career as an Aggregate Geologist. He was promoted to Head of Geology UK and International in 2005. In 2008 Eddie joined Holcim subsidiary Aggregate Industries and is currently Head of Geology and Survey for UK and Europe. In his various roles Eddie has travelled extensively, advising all levels of quarry management on mineral exploration, quarry geotechnical design and development, and reserve and resource classification and estimation. Eddie has acted as Scrutineer and served on the Chartership Panel of the Geological Society since 2004. He is a founding member of PERC and is the current Chair. Eddie is a European Geologist, a Chartered Geologist (GSL), and a Fellow of the Institute of Quarrying.

Sigurd Heiberg, Petronavitas a.s

Sigurd Heiberg is the chairperson of Petronavitas a.s. Sigurd has worked on petroleum resources management and in industry negotiating expansion to new countries, providing decision support for petroleum exploration and production, for the initial public offering of Statoil shares and for corporate strategy. He chaired the Oil and gas reserves committee of the Society of Petroleum Engineers (2000-2001), the UNECE Expert group on resource classification (2002-2009) and the Bureau of the UNECE Intergovernmental Committee on Sustainable Energy (2010-2012). Member of the Steering Committee of the EU project on Statistical Information on EU Raw Materials Deposits. Sigurd has engaged in education by helping the NPD build PETRAD, a facility providing training in Petroleum Management and Administration. He has been a lecturer at the MIT Sloan Executive Education and at the University of Stavanger. He is a guest editor with MIT Professor Donald Roy Lessard of “Innovation in oil and gas through partnering”, a special volume of Energy Strategy Reviews. Sigurd holds a BSc degree from the University of California, Los Angeles ‘67, and a SM degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ’69. He has received formal management training at IMD (International Management in 1981 and High Performance Boards in 2011).

Stephen Henley, Resources Computing International Ltd, PERC past President

After a PhD at Nottingham University in 1970 for geology and geochemistry in south-west England, he worked in Geological Surveys for 10 years in Australia and UK specialising in computer applications. In 1981 he was co-founder, chairman, and technical director of Datamine (geological modelling/mine planning software) which he developed to an award-winning market leadership position. In 1993 he left Datamine and set up Resources Computing International Ltd, providing consultancy services in resource modelling and assessment. This work included an 18 months contract with CSIRO in Perth, Western Australia, participating in a research programme on predictive exploration. In the 2000’s he was independent geological adviser to the Board of Petropavlovsk plc on gold exploration in the Russian far east. He is also chairman of Pomor Ltd, a participant in OAO Pana which carries out PGM exploration and contract drilling in Russia. Since 2006 he has been active in PERC and CRIRSCO to encourage professional standards in reporting of mineral resources and reserves.

Ruth Allington, GWP Consultants LLP, EFG Past President

Ruth Allington is an engineering geologist by training. She is Joint Senior Partner of GWP Consultants LLP in the UK, the firm she joined in 1981 immediately after graduating. In addition to her BSc and MSc degrees, she also has an MBA, and she is a qualified commercial and community mediator. Throughout her career, she has specialised in the design of open pit mineral operations in the UK and overseas, particularly quarries for construction materials and industrial minerals. She is an experienced expert witness.
She is the immediate past President of the European Federation of Geologists, a member (and current Treasurer) of the Pan European Reserves and Resources Reporting Committee (PERC) and chair of an IUGS Task Group On Global Geoscience Professionalism. She is committed to promoting the highest professional standards amongst geologists and others involved in the application of geoscience, particularly through the promotion of professional titles such as CGeol and EurGeol.
She is passionate about promoting ‘joined up thinking’ and encouraging collaborative approaches to problem definition, problem solving and dispute resolution based on effective communication and co-operation. This is especially important in coordinating the wide range of professional disciplines involved in quarry planning and management, and also in facilitating effective communication between the public and operators or developers (and their advisors). She was featured as one of 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining in a publication produced by Women in Mining in 2013.

Isabel Fernández, EFG Executive Director

Dr Isabel M Fernández Fuentes is Executive Director of the European Federation of Geologists since 2008. Isabel graduated in Geology from the Granada University, 1987, Master Engineering Geology, 1990, and holds a PhD in Geology from the University Complutense in Madrid, Spain, 1997, on the topic of Geophysical applied to Geotechnical studies; her PhD was published in the CEDEX monographic in 1998. She worked as a researcher in applied Geophysics in the Centre for Studies and Experimentation of the Ministry of Public Works, Madrid, Spain, 1987-1998. From 2001 onwards, she is the working with the European Federation of Geologists, EFG, and since 2008 she is the Executive Director. Working with EFG, Isabel has coordinated and participated in different European projects, and supports the coordination of EFG’s Expert Groups, among others activities.

Deborah McCombe (Chairperson), President and CEO, Principal Geologist Roscoe Postle Associates Inc.

Deborah McCombe is a Professional Geoscientist with 30 years of international mineral exploration and mine development project experience. Ms. McCombe has focused on due diligence reviews, resource and reserve estimates, feasibility studies and valuations in connection with mergers and acquisitions. Prior to joining Roscoe Postle Associates, Ms. McCombe was Chief Mining Consultant for the Ontario Securities Commission. She was involved in the development and implementation of NI43-101 Canadian Disclosure Standards for Mineral Projects. Most recently, she was the recipient of the PDAC 2012 Distinguished Service Award for her many contributions and distinguished service to the mineral industry and its supporting organizations; was 2012 recipient of CIM’s Robert Elver Mineral Economics Award for advancement of regulatory and reporting standards in the mining industry; was a CIM Distinguished Lecturer on National Instrument 43-101; and is the past Chair of Committee for Mineral Reserves International Reporting Standards (CRIRSCO).

The conference provided the audience with a unique opportunity to learn about and discuss concrete steps regarding mineral reporting in a cross‐disciplinary environment, including EU policy makers, national government officials, academics, minerals company executives, finance and industry experts.

Official coffee break sponsor: CSA Global (UK) Ltd

Official coffee break sponsor: Behre Dolbear

Official notepad sponsor: GWP Consultants LLP

Official conference folder sponsor: SRK Consulting (UK) Limited