Have you registered yet for the 41st Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Technique? The conference kicks off in less than two weeks. Don’t miss your chance to be part of the largest conference on explosives engineering.

Nearly 1,600 blasters, manufacturers, government officials and industry leaders from around the world are expected to meet this year in New Orleans, Louisiana. The conference features four days packed full of technical sessions, poster presentations, networking opportunities, special student and international events and an exhibit hall with nearly 130 companies showing off the latest products and technology in the explosives industry.

Attendee favorites like the Blasters Video Round Up and the ISEE awards banquet and auction will all be back for 2015. Visit our website to register today.

Get connected to the people and resources you need to advance your career in the explosives industry. From employers to employees, we have something for everyone in our relaunched job board. Employers can post open positions and even browse uploaded resumes of potential candidates.

Job seekers have the ability to create personalized accounts, upload resumes and search for open positions by keyword. It’s all at www.isee.org under job board.

It’s that time of year to apply for SEE Education Foundation Scholarships. Qualified students will be considered for an award among 26 funds. To be eligible to apply for a scholarship you must be pursuing technical, undergraduate, graduate or doctorate degrees in fields of education related to the commercial explosives industry; and able to demonstrate financial need.

Students will be assessed on their financial need, academic and professional achievements and goals related to the industry.

Go to https://www.isee.org/students to download the 2015 application. Only complete application packets emailed to hawkins@isee.org will be considered. The deadline is June 1, 2015.

There are a lot of great items being donated for our live and silent auctions at the 41st Annual Conference, including a quadcopter! Head over to our website to get a sneak peak. And don’t forget to check back for updates!

After 23 years of growth, including one of the biggest mining booms in the nation's history, tumbling iron ore and coal prices have put a brake on Australia's economy. And mining towns are paying the price. A termination package from the mining company he used to work for has helped soften the blow. But Mr Windle still had to sell his investment property to keep his head above water.

Once part of a vast army of workers in what was Australia's booming resources sector, Mr Windle now gets up at 5.30 am five days a week to clean and drive school buses in the small town of Muswellbrook. For decades, the town had ridden the waves of Australia's coal boom.

Mined materials support roughly 45% of the world’s economic activities – yet large-scale mining leaves social and environmental scars. Can the latest working group change that? Mining conjures up an ugly environmental image. Companies dig deep into the earth and use large amounts of energy and water to extract, process and transport minerals, leaving behind a devastating impact.

Oil dropped after Iraqi crude production surged to a record and the International Monetary Fund cut its global growth outlook. Crude fell as much as 4.9 percent in New York and 2.2 percent in London. Iraq is pumping 4 million barrels a day and will boost exports, Oil Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi said at a news conference in Baghdad. The IMF made the steepest reduction to its global-growth outlook since January 2012 in its quarterly global outlook yesterday. Projections for the euro area, Japan, China and Latin America were trimmed.

Glencore Plc recently said it was restarting coal mining operations in Australia, following a three-week suspension aimed at combating a global supply glut made worse by protectionist trade measures introduced in China. The suspension by the world's biggest exporter of thermal coal underscored producer concerns about over-supplied coal markets, though it did little to turn depressed coal prices around.

Gold on Monday consolidated recent gains sparked by safe haven buying after Switzerland's bombshell currency and interest rates move, the fallout from the collapse in the price of oil and the rampant dollar.

In light trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange due to a public holiday in the US, gold futures advanced some $12 an ounce from Friday's close to trade at $1,277 an ounce – the highest since early September. Last week the metal gained more than 5% and is now trading over $90 up in 2015.

The Ohio Drilling and Blasting Conference kicks off from 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 25, 2015, with a welcome reception and exhibits. On Thursday, learn about various topics such as underground blasting, waveforms, public relations, demolition blasting, current compliance issues and more.

Although retraining credit hours have been accepted in the past by a number of states, due to recent changes in regulations, you need to be careful and check with your state regulators to be sure you receive the proper retraining credit hours from this conference.

The European Federation of Explosives Engineers (EFEE) World Conference has established itself as one of the key international explosives forums. It includes technical presentations, an industry exhibition, educational workshops, welcome drinks reception, gala dinner and a partner program. The event draws attention from explosives users, manufacturers and equipment for drilling operations as well as researchers and professionals involved in the construction and mining industry.

The conference will be from April 26-28, 2015, at the Lyon Convention Centre in Lyon, France. Early bird registration is now open. Visit the EFEE website for more information.

Jan. 21-22, 2015
Beaver, West Virginia

Jan. 24, 2015
Lincoln, California

Jan. 26-28, 2015
Roanoke, Virginia

Jan. 29-31, 2015
New Orleans, Louisiana

Jan. 31, 2015
New Orleans, Louisiana

Feb. 1-4, 2015
New Orleans, Louisiana