On October 1-3, Moscow welcomed the 4th Mining and Exploration Business Forum MINEX 2008.
The forum was attended by more than 500 representatives of Russian and international companies coming from the EC countries, North America, Africa, the Middle East and South-East Asia.
The forum was addressed by over 50 top executives of pace-setting Russian and international companies who spoke on vital problems related to exploration and development of the raw minerals base in Russia. The forum’s plenary sessions featured reports analyzing the development of international raw minerals markets and the role of modern Russia in the world’s output of commercial solid minerals. Special attention was paid to boosting production efficiency of Russian mining companies and implementation of their development strategies. Mikhail Leskov, General Manager of NBL Zoloto, in his report to the audience focused on the world financial and economic crisis and its impact on the industry. “Of course, project requirements, including those of the mining industry, are changed dramatically under such conditions. In crisis, the requirements become stiffer. Operating scales are narrowed, while quality requirements are sharply increased. Risk related requirements are also reshaped, including those pinned to innovation financing. In such periods as the one which is coming investors prefer to put their money into well-known, tried-and-true projects and not into new ventures,” the speaker said. Nevertheless, Mikhail Leskov called upon renowned companies not to reject cooperation with new-comers, since their concepts may be the very “fresh blood,” which may help out in crisis environment. According to another speaker, Victor Kryukov, General Manager of OOO Zolotaya Mysl, the development of the Russian raw minerals base does not meet modern challenges. To correct the situation, as Victor Kryukov believes, there should be established a mining complex management system after the manner of those employed by foreign companies leading in the mining industry, for instance by BHP Billiton. Yury Malyshev, President of NP Gornopromyshlenniki Rossii and President of the Academy of Mining Science of Russia, besides the problems caused by the financial crisis, spoke on personnel training for the Russian mining industry. In his opinion, on the background of excessive management personnel among the graduates of higher education institutions there is acute shortage of well-trained engineers and production operators.
On October 2, the forum saw a ceremony of awarding the MINEX 2008 prize given for outstanding achievements in developing mining business in Russia. This year, the award included seven nominations.
The nomination “Regional Government of the Year” was won by the Republic Sakha (Yakutia), which was awarded this prize for attracting companies to develop its region. There were the following winners in other nominations: “Exploration of the Year” – Fedorov Resources; “Developer of the Year” - Peter Hambro Mining; “Technological Innovator of the Year” – Polyus Zoloto; “Miner of the Year” – Vitali Nesis (Polymetal); “Social and Ecological Responsibility of the Year” – Evraz; “Mining Company of the Year” – Atomredmetzoloto.
The annually held MINEX Forum was organized by a group of Russian and international companies in 2005 with a view to facilitate higher efficiency and international competitiveness of the Russian mining industry. The forum’s major aim is to provide a regular communication floor for top managers of mining companies, law makers, executive authorities, consultants and investors.
Rough&Polished
