From the Editor
-Mining Media Hits Its Stride

- The April 2007 E&MJ had a significant flop factor—a term publishers use to describe the sound the magazine makes when it hits the editor’s desk. This was due in large part to the bauma 2007 exposition that took place in Munich at the end of April. The print edition had more than 20 pages covering the show and E&MJ will publish post show coverage in a later edition.

Held every three years in the spring, bauma demonstrates Europe’s influence on the mining and construction industries. Even though many of the mines and mills in Europe have closed, the economies of several countries still depend heavily on the export of mining and mineral processing technologies and services. The popularity and success of Buama also makes it obvious just how many European firms are leading suppliers to the mining business.

bauma also marked a milestone for our company. Mining Media was a fledgling company that had just purchased E&MJ prior to bauma 2004. During 2003, E&MJ had weathered its most difficult year since its inception in 1866. The newly formed Mining Media team was making the rounds at bauma ‘04 and telling everyone about our great plans for business-to-business marketing for the mining and mineral processing sector. Although the vendors knew us individually, it was a new company and people were understandably skeptical.

During the last three years, Mining Media has restored E&MJ to the leadership position it owned for so many years. Depending on one’s perspective, leadership in the publishing business is defined as top-notch editorial, high-quality readership, and advertising revenue. E&MJ leads the field in all three categories. Mining Media has assembled the best and largest editorial staff amongst the mining trade journals and a full complement of international writers support the magazine. Yes, E&MJ is an American magazine, but it has more readers outside the United States than its closest audited competitor has total readership. The size of the April 2007 print edition speaks volumes about advertising support.

Mining Media continues to add more services. In addition to publishing E&MJ, Mining Media has also successfully launched an annual Chinese edition and a quarterly Spanish-language edition, Equipo Minero. Both are efforts to provide engineers and metallurgists in developing regions with the technical content they need to do their jobs safely and more effectively. E&MJ acquired the Haulage & Loading conference when it purchased World Mining Equipment. Past delegates will notice a vast improvement in organization and quality this year. Hopefully, more readers will be able to join us in Phoenix during May for the three most productive days in surface mining (www.haulageandloading.com). Soon, E&MJ will also debut the latest edition of the World Mining Directory.

The editorial and production staff at E&MJ and Mining Media would like to thank all of the loyal readers and the companies that support our efforts. Enjoy this edition of WOMP.

Steve Fiscor, Editor-in-Chief, E&MJ