MINExpo Brings it All Together
Rarely do thousands of mine owners, managers and operators have the opportunity to mingle with the industry’s leading vendors, in one location, over the course of a few days. MINExpo 2008 offered that opportunity—and the industry responded in record numbers.

Riding the crest of a multi-year global wave of demand for mineral commodities, the MINExpo International 2008 trade show—featuring the latest and largest in equipment, products and services from the industry’s many suppliers— drew a record crowd of 38,500 visitors to the Las Vegas, Nevada, Convention Center September 22-24, according to attendance figures reported by its sponsoring organization, the U.S.-based National Mining Association (NMA).

NMA said attendance for the 2008 show was 44% higher than that for MINExpo 2004. This year’s show featured almost 1,300 exhibitors showcased throughout approximately 600,000 ft2 of exhibit space, an increase of 30% over the exhibit space reported for the 2004 show.

Press coverage of an event this large is challenging—but E&MJ and its sister magazines Coal Age and Spanish-language Equipo Minero were up to the task, deploying five editors to the show’s numerous press conferences, exhibit walk-arounds, and press-only pre- and post-show programs. We’ve subsequently condensed the staff’s collective volume of information—comprising several cubic feet of notes, tape recordings, press kits and other material—into the following show report, divided broadly into three categories: mining equipment (underground and surface); mineral processing equipment; and other products and services that serve and support these two equipment sectors.

As featured in Womp 08 Vol 9 - www.womp-int.com