The 21st World Mining Congress

The World Mining Congress & Expo is a cyclic event, having occurred every 2-3 years since 1958, the first congress having taken place in Warsaw. After 50 years, the Congress is to be hosted in Poland once again. The 2008 Congress will be the 21st of its type.

The organizer and first Chairman of the International Organizing Committee of the World Mining Congress was Professor Bolesław Krupiński. He was also head of Mining Economics and Management Faculty at the University of Mining and Metallurgy (AGH) and the holder of an honorary doctorate from the University. He spoke of the mining profession in these moving words: „A miner always is, was and will be, a man of technical and social progress. Only through the perfection of social and technical work conditions, can a miner discover the secrets and treasures of the Earth, conquer and exploit them for the benefit of all, reverse natural dangers and provide the country with forces of nature”.

These beautiful words are the motto of the School of Underground Mining, the biggest meeting of mining practitioners and scientists in Poland, held every year in February at the Congress and Recreation Centre, in Szczyrk. The Conference is accompanied by the International Mining Forum. The Forum is an event decidedly more modest, and even though it affords an excellent opportunity for presenting Polish achievements and solutions to the broader public, thanks to the proceedings being published by Francis&Taylor (previously Balkema AA), renowned London Publishing House, this fact is not fully appreciated. I mention this, because the main organizational burden will be carried by the organizers of the said School and Forum.

The role of Chairman of the World Mining Congress’ International Organizing Committee is presently fille by Prof. Józef Dubiński - the Chief Head of the Central Mining Institute in Katowice.

Let us recollect the first international miners’ meeting in Warsaw, back in 1958. In his biography of Professor Bolesław Krupiński, entitled “From Niwka to Geneva” (Publisher: Wydawnictwo Literackie, Kraków, 1980) Robert Jarocki records: “through the meeting organized in Warsaw, Poland managed to focus the attention of the international mining community on its position in a field in which it had had no previous experience. A number of people from the Western countries were greatly surprised by the high level of advance Poland had achieved. The meeting was also the first event organized on such a scale, attended by miners from two opposing political blocks. And from the perspective of Kurpinski’s strategic idea – a reinstatement of the broken links with the mining research and knowledge”.

Since 1958, twenty Mining Congresses have taken place - each in a different country. The Congress has been hosted by: Moscow, Lima, Belgrade, Madrid, London, Stokholm and many other capitals and is usually attended by more than 1000 people. The numbers of Expo visitors, on the other hand, has varied greatly. In some cases it has been really impressive.

The Congress of 2008 will take place from 7 through 11 September in Krakow. The World Mining Expo and one of the plenary sessions will be held in Katowice. Two other sessions will probably be held outside these cities – in Lubin and Belchatow. The plenary sessions will take place in the Auditorium Maximum at the Jagiellonian University, but our University will also be the venue of many sessions.

Granting Poland the right to organize the Congress is simultaneously a great honour, a recognition of the Polish mining research and technologies, and a great challenge. The choice of Poland as the organizer of the next Congress, was greeted with respect and applause by most attendants of the 20th Congress in Tehran. We need to believe that we can meet this challenge and we should utilize the coming years to promote Poland and the achievements of it’s mining industry.

The year 2008 is a special one, as 50 years have passed since the first Congress in Warsaw. There are, however, other noteworthy anniversaries:

• 480 years ago the first Polish mining Act called “Ordynek Gorny” was decreed by Prince Jan Opolski, the last of the Piast dynasty in Opole;
• 80 years ago the first doctoral defence at our University took place. The author of the thesis was Witold Budryk, the later Dean of the Mining Faculty and Rector of the AGH;
• 30 years ago Wieliczka Salt Mine was placed on the UNESCO list. (It is in Wieliczka that one of the Congress’ sessions, entitled “The Mine - A Witness to History and a Monument of Technology” is to be held).

It should be noted that “Ordynek Gorny” is a monument to the contemporary Polish language in Upper Silesia. As writes Józef Piernikarczyk, historian and documentalist of the history of mining and metallurgy, “Ordynek Gorny” is “a document allowing us to learn about legal, social, economic and even religious conditions prevailing in the old Piast province. It should be proud of this part of its history, because the Act is one of the achievements of the ancient, yet advanced culture of Silesia”.

Jubilees, then... As someone said, “Jubilees are beautiful only when they do not end anything”.

Together with the organizers, I believe that this will be an event demonstrating the modernity and beauty of the Polish mining industry, and also the strength and beauty of its traditions.

Chairman of the 21st World Mining Congress Organizing Committee, Kraków 2008

Jerzy Kicki