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NewswireTODAY - /newswire/ -
Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), 2015/09/16 - The DRC’s mining community, as well as global partners, investors and suppliers, will meet up for the sixth edition of Katanga Mining Week at the Grand Karavia in Lubumbashi from 20-21 October.
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The event will focus on the local challenges of the province as the hub of copper and cobalt mining in the DRC as well as the role of the mining industry in social development responsibilities.
Ivanhoe Mines is this year’s diamond sponsor for Katanga Mining Week. Says Mr Mr. Louis Watum, Executive Director of Ivanhoe Mines: “now that we are in a downturn, it is good to remember that mining cycles always present ups and downs, and this is the best time to invest and seek to improve operational efficiencies so that we can remain competitive”.
Workshops and expo
The Katanga Mining Week event director Nicole Smith says: “we acknowledge the need for mine personnel to get the best training possible from our experts, as the efficiency of their work on site is a pre requisite to improve the quality of the operations in the field. We are offering free technical workshops on the expo floor again and will focus on the latest blasting technics as this was a hot topic last year and a crucial part the open sky mining expertise. Other topics on the workshop agenda are maintenance of machinery and health and safety which will include making staff aware of the risks of malaria and ways to prevent it.”
Nicole adds: “this year’s Katanga Mining Week’s key partners, exhibitors and sponsors will be providing those training workshops for free, including Ivanhoe, Onlime, Schlumberger and Spraying Systems. Furthermore, the indoor and outdoor expo will showcase the latest technology, hardware and software, enough to excite and inspire any mining professional!”
The conference sessions will be dedicated to: “infrastructure, the railways, the fiscal regime and the daily challenges that the mining operators encounter will be addressed and the specifics of the environment regulation will be elaborated on. Power and key solutions for the Katanga province will have a dedicated session; this is to help boost the production of copper and cobalt.”
Speaker highlights and sneak preview of the conference at Katanga Mining Week:
Power Focus Day, 19 October:
• Case study: incentivising energy savings through low consumption lamps
- Charles Carron Brown, COO of Tiger Resources The Kipoi Mine: “Let’s work together to fix the power. Tiger is investing $33 million to improve the 120kV network and carry out an energy efficiency project everyone wins with this! Ordinary households get better power and light, there will be fewer power cuts, there will be more power available for SNEL to sell, more power available for the mining industry, in particular for SEK, and in the end the government will collect more taxes since the operating costs of all the miners will be reduced. This is also a significant environmental benefit. That is seven wins. Not just the normal Win-Win.”
Conference, 20-21 October:
• 2015 results: what to expect from the mining sector by 2020?
- Simon Tuma Waku, Vice President, Federation of Congolese Enterprises (FEC), in charge of the mining sector: “I am very pleased by the commitment from mining companies to maintain the same level of production than last year."
• Harmoning norms and standards: IDAK platform
- Elise Vigier, Technical Advisor, GIZ, Germany: "Try it: CSR is profitable for your business, and you are not alone to implement."
• ATI’s add value in infrastructure development: the case of DRC
- Attaty Kodjo, Underwriter, Francophone Countries at the African Trade Insurance Agency: “ATI has a large program supporting clean energy projects thanks in large part to an initiative that is sponsored by the European Investment Bank.”
Katanga Mining Week is enjoying great institutional and industry support again, including the Government of the Province of Katanga and the DRC’s Ministry of Mines. Ivanhoe Mines is the diamond sponsor and Engen, Standard Bank and Tenke Fungurume have signed up as platinum sponsors. Aggreko, Andritz Hydro, Senet and Tiger Resources are gold sponsors.
Katanga Mining Week is organised by Spintelligent, leading Cape Town-based trade exhibition and conference organiser, and the African office of Clarion Events Ltd, based in the UK.
Katanga Mining Week dates and location:
Power focus day: 19 October 2015
Conference and exhibition: 20-21 October 2015
Site visits: 22 October 2015
Locations: Grand Karavia Hotel, Lubumbashi, DRC.
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annemarie.roodbol[.]spintelligent.com 
