Exhibitor registration is now open for the 43rd Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Technique held Jan. 29 – Feb. 1, 2017, at the Caribe Royale Orlando in Orlando, Florida. Showcase your organization's latest technology, equipment, design, products and services to the global explosives marketplace.

This annual event, with as many as 1,600 blasters, manufacturers, government officials and suppliers, is the premiere international forum for targeting the hands-on explosives user. Be sure to reserve your exhibit booth today. Register now.

Board of Directors

The ISEE Nominating Committee is seeking nominations of candidates for the ISEE Board of Directors fall 2016 election. Candidates must be qualified as members of the society who have demonstrated leadership and active participation in the society and in the explosives industry.

Candidates who are elected to the board will take office February at the end of the Annual Membership Meeting that will be held at the 2017 Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Technique.

Awards

Nominate a coworker or colleague who has made an exceptional contribution to the fields of explosives or drilling for one of the International Society of Explosives Engineers most prestigious awards. There are three awards the ISEE is accepting nominations for:

Blaster’s Leadership Award: Presented to those who exemplify the blaster in the field and have given generously of time and talents in helping fellow blasters.

Driller’s Leadership Award: The award recognizes a drill operator, manager or drill expert who has given an extraordinary amount of time and knowledge to help fellow drillers and blasters with application, engineering or field work.

Distinguished Service Award: An award of merit given to an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of explosives engineering.

BHP Billiton Ltd., the world’s No. 1 miner by market value, recorded its worst-ever annual loss as US$7.7 billion in charges exacerbated a deep slump in commodity prices. The loss deepens the gloom in the global mining sector, which has responded to global economic uncertainty and low prices for commodities from copper to iron ore by closing mines, laying off workers and slashing returns for investors.

Platinum futures trading on the Nymex market in New York lost $13.70 an ounce to $1,115 on Monday, down from 15-month high hit last week. Palladium contracts gained slightly but stayed below $700 an ounce as the metal retreats from its highest level since June last year.

Despite this week's pullback, platinum is performing better than gold in 2016 with a year to date advance of 28.5%. Sister metal palladium enjoyed its best month for nearly a decade, soaring more than 21% in July and measured from its January 12 low the metal is up over 47% or $223 an ounce.

Peabody Energy Corp. said last week its five-year business plan had been approved by its debtor-in-possession lenders, the first step towards emerging from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Peabody, the biggest U.S. coal miner, filed for bankruptcy protection in April after a sharp drop in coal prices left it unable to service its $10.1 billion debt, much of it incurred for to expand in Australia.

The St. Louis-based company said it was aiming for total annual sales of 194 million to 197 million tons between 2018 and 2021, up from an expected 168 million tons in 2016. Revenue over the period is expected to be $4.4 billion to $4.6 billion.

Mine drill operators face their share of on-the-job risks. Failing to follow safe drilling practices can lead to fatal outcomes, as has been the case in recent years.

To focus industry attention on safe drilling practices and the importance of well-maintained equipment, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Mine Safety and Health Administration issued a drill entanglement safety alert to the mining community on Aug. 10, 2016.

Originally submitted by Dykon Blasting Corp., this video was shown at the 42nd Annual Conference at Explosives & Blasting Technique during the Video Round Up. It is a compilation of pictures and video clips from Dykon Blasting Corp. drill and blasting projects throughout the United States.

The Blasters’ E-Handbook is now available for purchase exclusively at the ISEE online store. This e-book is a complete, mobile version of the Blasters' Handbook 18th Edition, second printing, which is home to more than 1,000 pages of explosives knowledge written and designed by experienced industry professionals.

E-book readers can search the entire Blasters’ Handbook for keywords with ease, make in-book notations, highlight important text and bookmark sections where they left off. The mobile format is perfect for working in the field and for students looking to lighten their backpacks.

The e-book is compatible with most iPads, iPhones, Windows PCs and Macs, and only available at our online store.

Properly storing and securing explosives is vitally important in our industry. This free PDF contains guidelines, tips, techniques and tools developed by ATF, ISEE and IME for properly securing explosive materials.

The purpose of this booklet is to provide industry members with useful tips, techniques and tools for properly securing explosive materials. In past, advisories to explosives industry members, it has requested that industry members report any suspicious behavior or unusual activity to ATF and local law enforcement authorities. Keeping explosives secure requires more than that, however. It requires preparing and implementing a security plan.

Become an ISEE member and get exclusive access to 40 years of research with the Explosives Reference Database Online. It has more than 3,000 searchable documents from proceedings from the Annual Conference on Explosives and Blasting Technique Symposia on Explosives and Blasting Research; and papers from the Journal of Explosives Engineering. Members also get exclusive access to the Blaster’s Toolkit, an online hub for handbooks, guides and other industry tools.

Aug. 22-26, 2016
OSU School of Forensic Sciences
Contact tom.gersbeck@okstate.edu for more information.

Sept. 7-9, 2016
Rapid City, S.D.

Sept. 17, 2016