This year’s Copperbelt Mining Trade Expo and Conference (CBM-Tec) was a great success, attracting over 2 090 attendees, 74% of which make or influence purchasing decisions at their companies, report the event is joint organisers Specialised Exhibitions Montgomery and Spintelligent.

The event, which was held in Kitwe, Zambia, on May 12 and 13, will return to the Kitwe Showgrounds on June 29 and 30 next year.

Exhibitors cited launching projects into the Zambian market, on-site sales, sales leads, valuable face time with new and existing clients and brand visibility as key advantages of being a part of the event.

“This was one of the best shows to date in the Copperbelt region – we commend the CBM-Tec team and we trust they will maintain the same high standard in 2017 as we would like to return to the same two stands,” says electrical supplier Electrical Maintenance Lusaka and specialist Electrical Instrumentation Services senior project manager Guy Gibbon.

The conference saw a range of important themes addressed by speakers, including a consideration of Zambia’s legal and fiscal regulatory environment, financial support across Zambia’s mining value chain, action points and best practices for the private sector to ensure a sustainable mining sector, environmental compliance and the role of mining in Zambia’s local development. Energy efficiency and supply were also key topics of interest, with a number of conference sessions dealing with efficient energy management in mining operations.

CBM-Tec also featured free-to-attend technical workshops, which provided an ideal platform for upskilling mine personnel on the latest innovations available to the copper mining sector. The organisers state that the workshops were highly successful in helping equip mine operators with experience on the latest technologies and solutions.

“The 2016 CBM-Tec show was an excellent platform to introduce new products onto the Zambian market. “Our stand attracted many high-level delegates and decision-makers. We are confident of closing some deals as a result of following up on leads generated during the exhibition,” adds mining tools manufacturer Accutrak director Ian McHardy.

Accutrak is the developer of the Smartrail system and has a branch in Kitwe, to service the Central African market. The company has fixed-term contracts with mining houses Lonmin, Gold Fields, Harmony, Anglo Platinum, AngloGold Ashanti, Royal Bafokeng Platinum, Sibanye and Village Main. Smartrail combines in-line weighbridge technology with low power radio-frequency identification tracking technology to provide real-time accounting of production volumes available on surface. Konkola Copper Mines (KCM), the largest mining and metals company in Zambia, has installed four Smartrail systems in key tramming areas of its mine. According to a 2015 reference letter from KCM mine manager Alfred Ng’am, the system has proven to work well and has added value to the Konkola Deep Mine Project.

”CBM-Tec 2017 [will] offer a full indoor and outdoor expo and conference experience, with more offerings, more exhibition space and more informative technical workshops,” enthuse the organisers, adding that, for a fourth year running, CBM-Tec will deliver a measurable return-on-investment for both buyer and seller markets.