Organization of XVI ICPC 2010

The objective of the International Coal Preparation Congress (ICPC) is to provide a forum where coal preparation professionals from around the world can meet on a four year frequency and exchange ideas / technologies. To accomplish this, the ICPC blends technical programs with numerous social events. In recent years the technical program has increased in size to enhance participation.

The concept of an International Coal Preparation Congress (ICPC) was developed through the Allied Coal Commission which was an offshoot of the Marshall Plan for redeveloping Europe after World War II. The objective was to assist the countries in Europe in re-establishing their coal industry recognizing that the coal mines in France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany had been devastated by the war. The first International Organizing Committee (IOC) consisted of members from Belgium, France, Germany, Holland, United Kingdom, and the United States with the US representative being Bill Crentz of the US Bureau of Mines. The IOC determined that the Congress would be held on a four year frequency.

The first ICPC was held in 1950 organized by France (Charbonnages de France and CERCHAR). There were 62 papers presented at this Congress including the introduction of (1) the Tromp Curve by Tobias Tromp, (2) Ecart Probable (Ep) by Andre Terra, and (3) the dense media cyclone by the Dutch State Mines in South Africa. Presented below are the subsequent Congresses:

• 1950 - Paris, France
• 1954 - Essen, Germany
• 1958 - Liege, Belgium
• 1962 - Harrogate, UK
• 1966 - Pittsburgh, USA
• 1972 - Paris, France
• 1976 - Sydney, Australia
• 1979 - Donetsk, USSR
• 1982 - New Dehli, India
• 1986 - Edmonton, Canada
• 1990 - Toyko, Japan
• 1994 - Krakow, Poland
• 1996 - Brisbane, Australia
• 2002 - Sandton, South Africa
• 2006 - Beijing, China
• 2010 - Lexington, USA

The IOC was enlarged in 1972 with the addition of Poland, USSR, and Australia. IOC membership is open to countries that have previously hosted the ICPC or have offered to host the ICPC. Since that time India, Japan, South Africa, and Turkey have joined the IOC with France, Belgium, and Japan dropping their membership due to the cessation of coal mining in those countries. The Ukraine became a Member of the IOC because the USSR Congress was held in Donetsk, Ukraine (both Russia and Ukraine are members in the IOC). Turkey is hosting the ICPC in 2013. Other countries who have not hosted or offered to host the ICPC are considered Corresponding Members and do not attend the annual meetings. The current members of the IOC and their representatives are:

International Organizing Committee

• G. William Kalb, US Chairman of the IOC
• Wieslaw Blaschke, Poland
• Doug Jenkinson, UK
• Boris Linev, Russia
• Kevin McMillan, South Africa
• Gulhan Ozbayoglu, Turkey
• Ahmed Salama, Canada
• Zhou Shaolei, China
• Andrew Swanson, Australia
• Olexandr Yegurnov, Ukraine
• Dieter Ziaja, Germany
• Raj Sachdev, India

Corresponding members include:

• Ljudmilla Bokanyi, Hungary
• Peter Fecko, Czech Republic
• Slavomir Hredzak, Slovak Republic
• Georgios Anastassakis, Greece

The members of the IOC are either representatives of their country’s coal preparation society or some government entity related to the coal industry.

The United States is hosting the Congress in 2010 which is the first time that the Congress has been held in the United States since 1966 (44 years ago). The XVI ICPC 2010 will be held at the Lexington Convention Center (http://www.LexingtonCenter.com) in Lexington, Kentucky, April 25-30, 2010. The Congress will be hosted by the Coal Preparation Society of America (CPSA) (www.coalprepsociety.com) and the International Organizing Committee (IOC). The Congress is organized by the National Organizing Committee (NOC) whose members are:

• G. William Kalb, Co-Chairman
• Peter Bethell, Co-Chairman
• Barb Arnold, Secretariat
• Rick Honaker, Editor
• Dave Carris
• Rich Merwin
• Larry Watters
• Roe Hoan Yoon
• Al Deurbrouck

The NOC has been consistently working on the Congress organization since 2006 and is extremely excited about the program. The NOC met with the IOC in 2008 and 2009 to review the status of the program. The NOC has solicited and organized the abstracts by topic. Each country on the IOC can pre-select three papers from their country with the 2009 IOC meeting jointly to select the remaining presentations.