About WMC

These Statutes were accepted at the 77^th IOC meeting in Taxco, Mexico on 13^th October 1997 on the basis of changes applied by some National Committees to the Original Statutes printed in June 1977 and agreed at the 76^th IOC meeting in Prague in April 1997 with later changes accepted on November 2005, during the 86^th IOC meeting in Teheran, major changes during the 100^th IOC meeting in Arequipa and the 105^th meeting in Santiago.

Mission statement

The World Mining Congress (WMC) is an independent international organization promoting the importance of minerals, advancing sustainable mining practices and contributing to the wellbeing of the global society. The International Organizing Committee (IOC) is the standing international committee that brings experience and knowledge in all mining sectors with emphasis on the complete mining life cycle. The objectives of WMC are:

1. to create awareness of the importance of minerals and reliable mineral supply for the global society
2. to critically promote sustainable mining practices internationally by providing basic information and data on the need for mining to the general public
3. to obtain and make available a world-wide exchange of information with respect to the development of mining science, technology, socio - economic, legal, health and safety aspects of mining operations and their environmental impact. The exchange of information and data should also cover issues of transparency, anticorruption, just distribution of the benefits of mining, social license to operate and other issues
4. to support scientific and technical co-operation, with international organization in the field of mining of all solid, non renewable minerals and the development of mineral resources and serve as the vehicle for engaging stakeholders to achieve the above objectives”.

Objectives are implemented by the IOC through:

1. promoting active interaction and communication between members of the International Organizing Committee of World Mining Congress,
2. assisting with the organization of World Mining Congresses through:
   • establishing and ensuring quality standards for the organization of World Mining Congresses,
   • assisting with congress organizers in attracting high quality scientific and technical contributions,
3. preparing position statements on mining issues concerning policy makers, industry practitioners, academia and the general public,
4. publishing reliable information and data on world mining issues

1. As a result of the first International Mining Congress held in Warsaw (Poland) in 1958 and the continued world-wide co-operation in the fields of mining science and technology, there has been created a permanent international organization known as the World Mining Congress (WMC).
2. In order to promote fruitful co-operation, the members of the International Organizing Committee (IOC) of the World Mining Congress, as representing the mining countries, have decided to establish Statutes of the World Mining Congress.
3. Objectives of the World Mining Congress shall be as follows: a) To promote and support scientific and technical co-operation, for national and international progress in the fields of mining of solid minerals and the development of natural mineral resources. b) To obtain a world-wide exchange of information with respect to the development of mining science, technology, economics, health and safety aspects of mining operations, minerals policy, Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) and governance topics.
4. Management of the organization of the World Mining Congress shall be vested in the International Organizing Committee of the World Mining Congress hereinafter referred in these Statutes as the "IOC".
5. The realization of the aims of the World Mining Congress is the responsibility of national mining organizations (hereinafter referred to in the Statutes as National Committees), represented on the IOC. The organizations will vary in character from country to country but shall always be nationally representative.
6. The official languages of the World Mining Congress shall be English normally used at the meetings of the IOC and during proceedings at the World Mining Congress.
   The option to use one other Congress official languages and /or its own language in addition to English shall be open to the Congress host country.
7. All activities of WMC/IOC must be in line with the mission statement (Annex 1)

Article 1 / Meetings of the World Mining Congress

1. World Mining Congresses shall normally be held at intervals of three (3) years.
2. The theme, time and geographical location of each Congress shall be determined by the IOC in coordination with the WMC
3. Applicant country must be a member of WMC/IOC organisation.
4. The only party liable to apply for organisation of WMC event is the National Organising Committee (NOC) of the World Mining Congress of the applicant country.
5. The applicant country must demonstrate support/guarantees of national or local government to cover the cost of congress organisation
6. Usage of the WMC brand (logo) by selected duly approved organisers must be subject of licence / agreement with IOC board.
7. Checking adherence of above mentioned guidelines and following certain fixed dates (milestones) will be responsibility of the host country NOC. It will be subject of executed letter of understanding between host country NOC duly appointed representatives and representatives of IOC board.
8. Program of proposed WMC event and its motto must be in line with WMC mission statement (Annex 1) and statutes.
9. The IOC shall be responsible for the overall organization of each Congress. It shall agree the theme subdivisions, papers and the manner of conducting each Congress.
10. The detailed organization of each Congress shall be vested in the country in which it is held.
11. The National Committee or recognized mining organization of the country in which a Congress is to be held shall be responsible for organizing, conducting, and financing the Congress.
12. The President of a World Mining Congress shall be appointed by the country in which the Congress is to be held.

Article 2 / Participation in a Congress

In each World Mining Congress any person, from any country, interested in mining may take part.

Article 3 / Publication of Congress Transactions

1. The papers presented at any Congress, shall be published by the National Committee of the Congress country before the Congress Meeting as the official publication having ISBN number (at least in the electronic form).
2. The discussions, official speeches, etc., shall be published as soon as practicable after the termination of the Congress by the National Committee of the Congress country.
3. The official transactions shall normally be published in English and may also be reproduced in any of the other official Congress languages and its own National language at the discretion of the Congress host country.

Article 4 / Nature of the COMMITTEE

TThe IOC shall be a permanent organ of the World Mining Congress, an international, non-governmental organization, uniting persons engaged in mining science, technology and production, and furnishing leadership for the organization of each World Mining Congress.

Article 5 / Objectives and Rights of the COMMITTEE

1. To promote the objectives of the World Mining Congress as stated in Paragraph 3 of the Preamble.
2. To manage the organization of the World Mining Congress.
3. To establish subsidiary bodies of temporary or permanent character (any Commission, Working Group, Bureau, etc.) for the study of specific subjects or to carry out specific tasks designated by the IOC.
4. To maintain relations with other national or international organizations with knowledge of, or interests in, subjects allied to mining.

Article 6 / Membership

1. The COMMITTEE shall consist of members as follows:
   a) Members:
   
   1) the representatives of National Committees which accepted these Statutes;
   2) the representatives of national scientific-technical societies,
   universities, research institutes or organizations as well as other professional or industrial organizations in mining science or technology of a country in which there is as yet no national committee. This type of membership should be regarded as a first step towards the establishment of a National Committee.
   
   b) Honorary Members - persons who have made a notable contribution to the activities of the World Mining Congress and/or international co-operation. Such persons could be proposed by any National Committee or by the Chairperson of the IOC.
2. The IOC may invite other international organizations to appoint their representatives to participate in the IOC meetings.
3. The admission onto the IOC of new members of all types shall be decided by the IOC.
4. Each NOC may be represented on the IOC by a maximum of five (5) Members, excluding officers of the IOC and Honorary Members. All new members should be nationally representative of mining in their country and must continue to have their support during their membership of the IOC.
5. Each NOC may invite for the IOC meetings the representatives of different sectors of mining industry as observers.
6. National Committees, which did not participate for 2 consecutive meetings shall be informed by the Secretary General, that their membership will terminate automatically after the 3rd absence. New application for membership is possible but must assure of revised interest of the IOC/WMC mission, activities and programs. New application for membership is possible after 2 years provided they comply with the revised interest in the IOC/WMC mission, activities and programs.

Article 7 / Chairpersonship and board of the COMMITTEE

The board consists of the Chairperson, the Vice chairperson and the Secretary General

1. The IOC shall elect from among its Members the Chairperson, the First Vice- Chairperson and up to seven* other Vice- Chairperson for a period of four (4) years with the right of re-election.
2. Each Vice-Chairperson of the IOC shall be a resident of a country different from that of the Chairperson and of the other Vice-Chairpersons. A Vice-Chairperson can only be appointed by a country that has an established active National Organizing Committee.
3. The Chairperson's authority and duties shall be as follows:
   a) to conduct the activities of the IOC,
   b) to preside at the meetings of the IOC,
   c) to represent the IOC on all international matters,
   d) to supervise the work of the Secretariat.
4. The First Vice-Chairperson shall temporarily assume the duties of the Chairperson during any period in which the elected Chairperson is unable to perform his duties. If both the Chairperson and the First Vice- Chairperson are unable to fulfil the office, one of the other Vice- Chairpersons shall assume the duties of the Chairperson.
5. If the Chairperson resigns or is otherwise unable to fulfil his office the First Vice-Chairperson shall act as Chairperson until the election of a new Chairperson is held at the next meeting of the IOC.
6. The term of the IOC Chairpersonship shall come into force three (3) months after the election.

Article 8 / Secretariat of the COMMITTEE

1. The Secretariat shall consist of the Secretary-General and supporting staff:
2. The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the Chairperson subject to the approval by the IOC and shall work to the instructions of the Chairperson.
3. The Secretariat of the IOC shall be located in Poland unless otherwise decided by the IOC

The Secretary General maintains liaison with the national committees and prepares the meetings of the IOC.
Together with the Chairperson, the General Secretary draws up a forward-looking business and financial plan annually, which is to be discussed and approved by the IOC.
The financial situation is controlled by the auditors, who shall present their reports at the IOC meetings regularly

Article 9 / Meetings of the COMMITTEE

1. 1. The meetings of the IOC shall normally be held once a year. Additional meetings may be held as required e.g. in the year of the Congress. It is recommended to follow the proposals of the Task Force for the organisation of the meetings (Appendix 3).
      National committees can also take part in the IOC meetings via video. The Secretary General shall provide such national committees with a video link at least 1 (one) week before the meetings.
   2. The date and place of each meeting shall normally be fixed by the IOC during previous meetings. Meetings may also be called on the initiative of the Chairperson or on request of one-third member-countries of the IOC.
   3. Invitations to attend shall be sent by the Chairperson to the members of the IOC at least two (2) months before the meeting and shall have enclosed the draft agenda and necessary annexes.
   4. The National Committee or the equivalent organization of the host-country shall inform in advance, but not less than three months, the members of the IOC about any organizational affairs and expenses connected with the participation in the meeting.
   5. To elect the Chairperson and Vice-Chairmen and to amend the Statutes, Members from at least half the member-countries shall be present at the meeting.
   6. The IOC as a rule shall decide unanimously. If on any issue voting is necessary, a decision in respect of election of officers and amendments to the Statutes shall be by at least a half of the votes of the countries present at the meeting of the IOC. On other issues a simple majority will suffice. Each member-country or member-countries group represented by its Members at the meeting, shall be entitled to one vote only.
      In the event of a tie the decision will be taken by the Chairperson of the Committee, In the case of absence of a National Committee can grant the voting right to a particular National Committee.
      The board members have no right to vote (except the Chairperson of the Committee in case of a tie)
      For non-secret voting, voting can also be done via video link.
   7. At the end of each meeting of the IOC the Secretariat shall draft the minutes in as many as possible official languages for approval and signature by the Members.
      In this the National Committee or the equivalent institution of the host-country shall ensure any necessary assistance. The version of the Minutes in the remaining languages shall be prepared by the Secretariat and distributed at later date.

Article 10 / Finances

1. 1. Expenditures arising from the duties of the Secretariat shall be met by the country of which the Chairperson of the IOC is the resident (e.g. costs of office duties, accounting etc).
   2. Each NOC is liable to contribute an annual fee. The annual fee shall be fixed and agreed during the IOC meetings depending on the financial needs.
   3. A registration fee for the Congress payable by participants and accompanying persons shall not necessarily be paid by members and honorary members of the IOC. This shall be decided by the Congress host country.
   4. Only the Chairperson or the Secretary General may dispose of these funds. The fees may not no be spent for traveling costs.
   5. The balances of fees and expenditures shall be controlled by two (2) auditors appointed by the IOC for their conformity with the business and financial plan.
   6. The auditors shall be elected by the IOC for a term of a Chairpersonship.
   7. The report of the auditors for the period between the IOC meetings shall be presented at the IOC meetings.
   8. All expenditures directly associated with the organization and conducts of the IOC meeting shall be met by the National Committee or the equivalent institution of the host-country.

Article 11 / Krupinski Award

To honour the founder of the WMC, Prof. Dr. Krupinski, a KRUPINSKI AWARD shall be established. Finences, applications and awarding procedure has to be in line with the guidelines (Appendix 4) and is a decision of the IOC “Award Sub-committee” appointed by IOC.

Article 11 / Amendments of the Statutes

1. 1. Proposals for amendments to these Statutes may be made only by Members and details of such proposals shall be circulated to all member-countries at least four months in advance of the IOC meeting at which they are to be considered.
   2. Proposed amendments shall be considered at the earliest possible meeting of the IOC subsequent to the sub-mission and with the obligatory attendance of a representative of the National Committee proposing the amendment.
   3. The IOC shall decide on any proposal in conformity with the procedure outlined in Paragraph 6 of Article 9.

Article 12 / Coming into Force of the Statutes

These Statutes shall come into force on the day on which they are accepted by a simple majority of countries which are represented by Members.

Rules and guidelines for organization

1. The applicant country must demonstrate adequate mining industry/resources experience and potential (subject to evaluation by IOC/WMC members when voting).
2. The applicant country must demonstrate adequate support of national mining science units (universities, institutes, etc.) necessary to prepare and conduct scientific sessions of the congress event, according to the highest international standards.
3. The applicant country must have sufficient facilities (buildings and space) to proceed with the Congress event and scientific including a mining fair/expo.
4. The congress theme will be recommended by the National Organizing Committee (NOC) and will be approved by the IOC/WMC members. The theme should always reflect current trends and issues of the global mining sector.
5. The NOC of the World Mining Congress of the applicant country may subcontract certain organization aspects of the WMC event and mining fair/expo to professional organization specialized in this domain. However the host country NOC of the WMC still remains in charge of the organization and the delivery of the event.
6. National Organizing Committee of the World Mining Congress of the applicant country is obliged to prepare cultural and social program for the participants of the congress to allow exposure culture and customs of the host country and to facilitate international integration and personal contacts of congress participants (pre- and post- congress tours/technical program).

Guidelines for IOC meetings

1. Annual IOC/WMC meetings should be organized in the WMC participants countries and last for minimum two days.
2. It is essential for the country applying for organization of annual IOC/WMC meeting to combine the meeting with another major mining related event planned to be organized in that time in the host country (e.g. mining related conference, workshop, expo, etc.).
3. The IOC/WMC business meeting should be organized one day ahead of above mentioned event.
4. The organizers of the annual IOC/WMC meeting should propose for the participants technical (post-conference/workshop/expo) site visits. The accompanying persons should be proposed meaningful sightseeing/cultural program during the stay.
5. The NOC should organize welcome dinner for the participants of IOC/WMC annual meeting and their accompanying persons in the evening prior to the business day and formal dinner at the end of first day. Presence of host NOC of WMC and/or local government representatives formal speaker/s during both meetings would be highly recommended.
6. Apart from above listed conditions/recommendations to be fulfilled the priority to organize annual IOC/WMC meeting will be given to the country already approved to organize forthcoming WMC event (e.g. verification of the site and state of preparations).

Krupinski Award - Rules and guidelines

1. Objectives of the programThe program entitled Krupinski Award is designed to: a) enable young mining workers and PhD students to take an active part in the meetings of world mining congresses, b) by participating in mining congresses, bring young mining scientists closer to the idea of prof. Bolesław Krupinski and include them in the work of the International Organizational Committee of the World Mining Congresses.
2. Krupinski AwardThe objective of the Award is to incorporate the most talented young mining researchers from all IOC member countries to their national representations for the IOC. Krupinski Award is a one-off form of financial and organizational support for participation in the next World Mining Congress with intention of making it permanent in case of a success.The Award consists of the following elements: 1. The organizer of the World Mining Congress reduces the cost of the congress fee for the Competition Winners down to the symbolic amount (e.g. 100 USD) or exempts them from the fee completely. 2. IOC covers: a) a reduced congress fee set by the organizers, b) cash prize for one winner selected by the special Award Jury, c) the Krupinski Medal. 3. The National Committee member of the IOC WMC organizes in his country a competition for the best young researcher in the field of mining. 4. The National Committee finances the entire stay of a young scientist at the World Mining Congress, consisting of: a. costs of flight (travel) to the congress with the costs of commuting at the place of the congress. b. accommodation costs at the congress venue of a minimum 3-star hotel (to be decided by the National Committee). The National Committee provides logistical support during the organization of the trip and participation in the World Mining Congress (registration at the congress, booking and purchase of tickets for access to the place of the congress, arranging the necessary visas, hotel reservation, etc.).
3. Eligible to apply for the Krupinski Awarda) All candidates during the competition must be under 30 years old at the time of selection in order to receive the Award b) must be currently active in mining – both: as a researcher or university teacher. c) Current members of the IOC National Committee, are not eligible to receive the Award during their term of service on this Committee.
4. Competition Timeframe1. The Krupinski Award competition is organized in the year preceding the year of the World Mining Congress. 2. The general timeframe of the competition should take into account the periods indicated in Table 1. 3. Detailed competition schedule is presented in each case at the IOC meeting one year before the congress.
5. General timeframe:Due period Task

   Minimum one year before the exact date of congress	Announcement and call for nominations (in period of 3 months)
   9 months before congress	Nomination deadline
   9 months before congress	National Committee Chair provides qualified applicants to members of the national committee
   8 months before congress	First round of voting complete, Committee Chair schedules conference call to discuss results (if needed)
   7 months before congress	Second round of voting complete (if needed)
   7 months before congress	Presentation of the candidates from the all National Committee to the IOC Award Sub-Committee.
   No later than 6 months before congress	Registration of the Award holders to the Congress Participants data base
   During congress	Meeting all Award holders with the IOC Chair group and the Congress Organizing Committee Chair./td>

6. 5. NominationsEach National Committee should develop its own rules for selecting winners of the competition, taking into account the specificity and needs of its own country.All document have to be prepared in English.Nominations for the Krupinski Award should contain the following information: 1. Completed application including biographic and contact information for the applicant and the two nominators. 2. A letter of support detailing the applicant’s qualifications for the Award from each nominator (max 1 page). 3. A signed endorsement by the applicant’s current School Department Head or Research Centre Head. 4. Applicant’s CV/resume (abbreviated version – 3 page maximum). 5. List of papers/publications (abbreviated version – 3 page maximum). 6. Appropriate award description fulfilling the criteria mentioned below. The applicant must be currently involved with the research mining activities at the University or any other research Institute relating with mining.
7. Applicable general Criteria 1. Highly evaluated results of scientific work for mining in the last three years. 2. Overall, extensive publishing output in the last three years. 3. A paper acceptable for the presentation at the World Mining Congress. 4. Sufficient knowledge of one of the congress languages announced by the organizers of the congress 5. Sufficient experience in organizational activities (organization of congresses, seminar and scientific conferences related - directly or indirectly - to mining).
8. AdministrationThe Krupinski Award is administrated: 1. At the each WMC member country – by the IOC National Committee, 2. At the IOC level – by the IOC “Award Sub-committee”. 3. At the Congress Organizing Committee level – person selected by IOC National Committee – organizers of the congress.
9. Selection of candidates in IOC member countryFor each WMC Member Country winners of the Krupinski Award shall be selected by a majority vote of the National Committee in accordance with the national accepted rules.
10. Presentation of the Krupinski Award winnerThe winner of the Krupinski award will be presented at the special meeting organized during Congress. Additionally, each winner will be announced before his oral presentation of the paper at the Congress by the chairman of the Congress Session.
11. Funding1. All expenses shown in item 2.1. and 2.2. incurred in respect of the Krupinski Award shall be the financial responsibility of both the IOC and the World Mining Congress Organizers. 2. Expenses shown in item 2.4. shall be the financial responsibility of individual National Committees.