The technical sessions of the SME meeting in Salt Lake City that I sat in on this afternoon perfectly capture the past, present, and future of mining.  First the future:  Kay Sever President of OptimiZ Consulting spent the whole afternoon on process optimization in mining.  She gave her mini-course at the invitation of Young Leaders group of the SME.  And her course was well packed with young mining engineers–I must have been the only person in attendance over the age of thirty.  She ably presented them the theory and practice of wringing the most profit and optimum performance out of a mine by applying the principles of quality management and control.  If the young miners in attendance are harbingers of the future of mining, things will not be business as usual as these folk take over.  Change is in the air. 

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The SME meeting in Salt Lake City kicked into top gear this morning with a magnificent and insightful Keynote address by Douglas B. Silver, Chariman and CEO, International Royalty Corporation, Engelwood, Colorado. Magnificent in that for nearly two hours he kept the filled hall enthralled with a witty, entertaining talk about the mineral supercycle, past, present and future.  Insightful in that he captured in his talk all the issues, hopes, and fears of miners, mine investors, and the public affected by mining. 

We will have to await publication of his talk as a paper in the SME magazine–and don’t miss it when it comes out.  Here are but a few of the many points he made that stuck in my mind:

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