The nation’s leading experts on mining and reclamation will gather in Morgantown for the annual meeting of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation (ASMR) April 18-22 at the Radisson Conference Center.

The meeting will be held in conjunction with the 25th West Virginia Surface Mine Drainage Task Force symposium.

“This is a real honor for us at West Virginia University, the city of

Morgantown, and the state of West Virginia to host an international mining and reclamation meeting,”said Jeff Skousen, president of the ASMR , a professor in WVU ’s Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences, and land reclamation specialist for WVU Extension.

West Virginia has been a hub of mining and reclamation practice for many years, and WVU has been a center of research in this important area of reclamation and acid mine drainage,he added.

Skousen estimates that the meeting will draw approximately 500 attendees from across the United States, along with representatives from China, Korea, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Venezuela and Mexico. The meeting will feature exhibitors with mining and reclamation products and services along with workshops and field trips for the participants. The five-day meeting will include over 150 presentations of research and field demonstration projects on innovative mining and reclamation practices.

The inclusion of the task force symposium will give local experts an opportunity to highlight West Virginia’s leadership in issues related to acid mine drainage.

Many symposium attendees consider the annual Mine Drainage Task Force meetings to contain the most current and important work in acid mine drainage in the world,Skousen said.Joint meetings between ASMR and the Task Force have been held in 1988, 1990 and 1994.

Every time these two groups meet together, we bring to one meeting the foremost experts in mining and reclamation in the country.”

Seminars will be presented from experts in industry, government and higher education. Experts from WVU ’s Davis College, Extension Service, College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, Eberly College of Arts and Sciences and the National Research Center for Coal and Energy will conduct seminars and workshops for attendees on topics ranging from aquaculture and reforestation to mountain top mining and stream restoration.

Attendees will visit local surface mines, acid mine drainage treatment facilities, restoration sites along the Cheat River, and aquaculture production sites that use treated mine water.

ASMR is a professional society composed of representatives of mining companies, academic and research institutions, federal and state regulatory agencies, and students. A majority of the members are directly involved in activities associated with coal mining and the reclamation of disturbed areas.

For more information or to attend the conference, please contact Skousen at jskousen@wvu.edu or 304-293-6256. A detailed schedule is available at WVU Extension’s Land Reclamation web site,http://www.wvu.edu/~agexten/landrec/land.htm.