8th Annual Mining & Reclamation Conference

Planning for Resiliency
May 2-4, 2018, Creede, Colo.

A long-range view is necessary to build resilient communities and organizations, especially in today’s economy. Times of plenty make it easy to carry on with business as usual. However, disruptive events can impede operations and hinder progress for many years, shifting resources to recovery efforts and away from fundamental objectives. Realizing that very few disasters are completely unexpected or sudden, but rather predictable potentialities with long-term causes, we can proactively design and implement projects to avoid major setbacks and reduce negative consequences.

In mining and reclamation, disruption is often tied to catastrophic environmental events, price fluctuations, shifting regulatory priorities and reduced funding, as well as human error. The theme for the 8th Annual San Juan Mining & Reclamation Conference, “Planning for Resiliency”, encourages discussions of how the mining and reclamation community can plan for potential disasters. We seek to learn from the experiences and insights of those with approaches to crisis management that weigh the impacts to society, the economy and the environment. We are interested in discussing best practices and solutions from the perspective of how focusing on this triple bottom line effects project development and long-range planning.

We invite bold and frank conversations about topics that have challenged you, may be considered taboo, or can be uncomfortable to share. Topic examples include, but are not limited to:
Longevity of mines
Lifetime of watershed groups
Risk assessment, tolerance, and/or mitigation
Effectively communicating risk
Fiduciary responsibility and abandoned mines (Good Samaritan Law)
Scenario planning
Adaptive management
Environmental justice
New regulations and their impact
Planning for severe weather events and natural disasters
Changes in relationships, partners, stakeholders

Through sharing useful information about these topics, the 2018 San Juan Mining & Reclamation Conference aims to create a productive forum with helpful takeaways and more innovative projects. We welcome you to join us for another opportunity of sharing and networking.