Metallurgical Society – Update July 2020
Message from the Chair - Bianca Newcombe
As we enter into the second half of 2020, we face further and ongoing uncertainty in terms of both the health and fiscal environment in which we find ourselves. For some, their local community has opened up, while others find themselves in lockdown once again. I am grateful for the rural community in which I reside, which has been spared from the worst of implications of the current pandemic so far.
For MetSoc, we have had to review our upcoming events schedule with state boarder closures in mind, and the uncertainty that these boarders can be closed (or opened) at any time with little notice. We had planned to make our Perth MetFest a ‘WA only’ event to allow it to go ahead, however the level of ambiguity in venue bookings and capacities, combined with corporate travel restrictions may result in the event being rescheduled to 2021. We will provide updates as deemed appropriate.
The Delprat lecture series has also been impacted. The annual tour of our Distinguished Series speaker (Joe Pease – 2020) would usually involve visiting all states to deliver the lecture to a live audience, however this too is proving too difficult to facilitate. The tour will most likely be limited to a few eastern state locations, culminating with a live-stream event in Brisbane. Again, this situation is fluid and updates will be provided as decisions are taken.
The Mill Operators conference has been postponed until June 2021… let’s hope that can go ahead as currently planned!
The AusIMM is moving to provide more on-line content with the New Leaders conference being provided as short sessions on Thursday afternoons. Both the Uranium and Lithium conference were also in an online format. As a commitment to the membership the AusIMM are also currently providing technical talks (webinars) free of charge to members, the next one being present by MetSoc committee member Damian Connelly on cyanide destruction or recycling. This will be live streamed on Monday the 20th July. Please register prior to the session going live.
A good news story can be hard to find at the moment so a good deed should be shared. Long-term AusIMM member Robert Jenkins recently approached MetSoc to assist in the sale of his mineral processing text collection, with all proceeds going to the Buy-a-Bale charity for drought affected farmers. I am pleased to say that the books were sold for an amazing $1500, and these funds were donated to Rural Aid (which facilitates the buy-a-bale program). Thank you Robert for your kind donation of these books and assistance this money will provide to those on the land.
If you would like to contact us or keep up to date on our activities why not join our MetSoc LinkedIn group. You can chat with committee members and ask the general group questions. This group has only recently been re-ignited, but now that it’s up and running again we should make use of this platform and the collaboration it will allow.
Join at https://www.linkedin.com/groups/6637533/
Please stay safe and well and I hope to see you soon.