print
this page |
What is the "International Mining Professionals Society" (IMPS)? Dennis Waddington, P.Geo. - Secretary, Toronto Chapter of IMPS 
Those of you who have visited the APGO events calendar recently may
have noticed the posting of meetings for the Toronto Chapter of The
International Mining Professionals Society. What is the "International
Mining Professionals Society" or IMPS? The short answer is self-explanatory.
It is a society of professionals from all disciplines in the mining
industry, who are all interested in networking and learning about
issues related to international aspects of the business. IMPS traces its origins to 1995, when a group of lawyers at the Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation recognized the need for a new society where professionals could interact with other mining professions to better understand how to manage and operate in the international mining environment. To transcend their legal framework they found a like-minded core group of lawyers, accountants, engineers, geologists, company managers and other professionals and together they established the IMPS. Key people involved in the startup were concentrated in Denver, Colorado and Toronto, Ontario and they established local chapters in both cities. Other individual IMPS members constitute proto-chapters that have not yet become fully active in Salt Lake City, Utah and Vancouver, British Columbia and are seeking the critical mass to get a program underway. Recognizing that "international" means different things depending on where you are, there is now a chapter in Buenos Aires, Argentina and soon there will be chapters in Santiago, Chile and Lima, Peru. Membership information for the IMPS parent body is posted on the IMPS website at The purpose of IMPS is to share information about international mining issues at a level of common understanding that is useful to the cross-disciplinary membership, and to provide networking opportunities which utilize the best, most appropriate modern communications technology available. This is accomplished through discussion group-type presentations at the chapter level, some of which are available by dial-in conferencing. The website offers a variety of papers and archived chapter discussion group presentations related to international mining. Types of information vary from basic country data to developments in mining legislation and standards for operations, economic analyses, financial, accounting, engineering, geoscience, marketing, human resources and management topics and more. Additions to this eclectic collection are welcome and the scope is wide open. IMPS is a society of diverse professionals, as distinct from a professional association or professional regulator, who are interested in sharing experiences of the mining industry around the world. The Toronto Chapter has held lunch-hour presentations over the years that dealt with many topics related to international standards, changing legislation and valuations, all of which are relevant to QPs and those who are served by them in the industry. This year (2004-2005) the Toronto chapter is teaming with the Management and Economics Society of the CIM and with the Natural Resources Section of the Ontario Bar Association, to offer a joint discussion group program, thus providing more regular monthly opportunities for all their members. Tentative dates for these events are posted on the IMPS website, but are subject to adjustment as topics and speakers are confirmed. |
For
more information on APGO, please contact info@apgo.net
|