Registration is now open for the 42nd Annual Conference on Explosives & Blasting Technique to be held Jan. 31 - Feb. 3, 2016, at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.

As many as 1,600 blasters, manufacturers, government officials and suppliers gather from all over the world to gain new insights and to form new business alliances. Participation will be strong as the largest conference of its kind in the explosives industry comes together in Las Vegas.

The 2016 program includes a dynamic education program featuring technical sessions, poster session and workshops combined with more than 130 exhibits on the latest technology. In addition to the full conference, the Blasters Weekend Package, commencing on Saturday, Jan. 30, will include the popular Blasters Training Seminar, the Blasters R Us Video Roundup, a regulatory panel discussion and more.

Calling all students looking to make a mark in the explosives industry: The ISEE Conference Program Committee is pleased to announce the Call for Student Papers to be presented at the 42nd Annual Conference on Explosives & Blasting Technique, the largest gathering of its kind involving field blasters, manufacturers of explosives related products, educators and researchers, to be held Jan. 31 - Feb. 3, 2016, in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This is an excellent opportunity for students to network with senior researchers and professionals from academia and the industry. Ideas should be submitted in a 200-400 word abstract highlighting the major points of the proposed 8-10 page paper and be approved by the student's faculty advisor.

Do you have a knack for photography and some great shots of a recent job you’d like to share? Submit them to our 23rd annual photo contest for a chance to win a $500 gift certificate to the ISEE Bookstore.There are categories for blasters and drillers at work, construction blasting, quarrying and mining, demolition blasting, specialty blasting and student entries. All submissions will be judged on composition, content and quality.

CEO and Managing Director Alberto Calderon recently announced a new operating model to simplify operations, improve visibility of each area’s performance and enable the business to respond to customer needs more effectively.

The new model ensures the areas of the business closest to the customers – the operating regions – have accountability for end-to-end customer service delivery, operational and financial performance. The regions will be supported by group functions, which will embed global processes and standards to ensure consistency of service and governance company-wide. The model will be effective Oct. 1, 2015.

The chief executive officer and president of MAXAM North America said Thursday that his company’s decision to build a new production facility in Ogdensburg is a prime example of what can happen when business, public officials and the community all work together.

Mr. Johnson said discussions over opening a new plant in Ogdensburg go back as far as two years, when company officials first began looking for a new location to expand in North America. The company’s North American branch is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah. It’s European and global offices are headquartered out of Madrid, Spain.

At least 89 people were killed and scores injured when a building that housed mining explosives blew up in central India on Saturday, a state office reported. Some of the injured are in critical condition, according to the chief minister's office in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

A tenant was storing licensed mining explosives, police said. A fire may have triggered the blast, but an inquiry has been ordered to determine the exact cause, police superintendent G.G. Pandey Pandey said.

The first of what are now four scheduled congressional hearings into the Gold King Mine spill took place Wednesday, Sept. 9 in Washington. The U.S. House Committee on Science, Space and Technology questioned U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials and its contractor on the project. It was Aug. 5 when the Gold King Mine gushed what became three million gallons of toxic water from inside. Video taken as it was happening shows a torrent of water pouring from the mine to the depths below.

The U.S coal industry has had a rough time in recent years. Between late 2010 and the end of 2014, the top ten publicly-traded coal companies saw their combined share price value drop by more than half, as hundreds of plants closed and thousands of employees were laid off. But the extreme cost cutting measures adopted by U.S. coal producers have not been enough to offset the effects of depressed commodity prices, an SNL Energy analysis of coal production costs shows.

Barely a few hours after the Minerals Council of Australia launched a PR campaign aimed at painting the coal industry as a key employer and taxpayer, hundreds took social media to spread their own views on the fossil fuel.

Mocking the slogan, "Coal. It’s an amazing thing," activists are populating sites such as Twitter, Instagram and Facebook with their especially created #coalisamazing hashtag for images and comments.

Mining is ripe for a new round of consolidation as metal prices stay low and access to capital tightens, a World Bank official said. Medium-sized producers are set to lead deals as small companies succumb to the price rout and large producers seek growth, Paulo de Sa, manager for energy and extractive industries at the Washington-based institution, said Tuesday in an interview from a conference in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.

Sept. 17, 2015
Blue Springs, Mo.

Sept. 18, 2015
Sandy Springs, Ga.

Sept. 18, 2015
Chambersburg, Pa.

Sept. 19, 2015
Crazy Horse, S.D.

Sept. 24-27, 2015
Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada

Oct. 2, 2015
Walnut Shade, Mo.

Oct. 8-9, 2015
Crazy Horse, S.D.

Oct. 9, 2015