NVMA Annual Convention

The conference addresses challenges across the mining life cycle through technical sessions, collaborative short courses, keynotes, and panel discussions, alongside a trade exposition. Technical sessions run concurrently, and the Core Shack features drill core and rock samples representing different deposit types and geological settings.

The technical program covers mining research and operational innovation, including AI, robotics and automation; advanced process control and digital twins; mineral processing, metallurgy and critical minerals; and bulk material handling, transfer-chute engineering and dust mitigation. Presentations address rare-earth extractant modeling, nickel leaching, copper flotation, sensor drift in AI systems, and coal mining beneath water bodies. The program includes the Robert E. Murray Innovation Award Lecture and the Dreyer Lecture. Conference registration includes technical sessions, keynote sessions, poster sessions, digital technical preprints, and access to the Western Mining Summit and the expo.

The technical program examines Great Basin geology and mineral deposits, including their strategic importance to U.S. mineral independence. It includes technical talks, keynote presentations, exhibits, professional and student posters, core shacks, field trips, and short courses. Technical sessions cover Mesozoic geology and ore deposits; exploration technology; Paleocene-to-late-Eocene geology and Carlin-type deposits; copper; epithermal deposits in Nevada and the Walker Lane; carbonate replacement deposits; ghost mineral districts and exploration blind spots; lithium; critical minerals; and the Western Cordillera. Field-trip subjects include hydrothermal gold systems, Walker Lane epithermal deposits, Yerington copper, Nevada lithium, Carlin-type deposits, the Comstock gold and silver district, and Lake Tahoe’s volcanic origins. Short courses address ore and alteration features in epithermal-to-porphyry systems and mineral resource estimation for public reporting, including geostatistics, data QA/QC, variogram analysis, interpolation, resource classification, and reporting under S-K 1300, NI 43-101, or JORC. All attendees are welcome, including nonmembers.

The conference focuses on mining-related technologies and methods. Abstract topic areas include reclamation, mine operations, and water treatment. Attendees are eligible for Professional Development Hours based on class time.

Programming is organized around Learn and Connect tracks. Learn covers legal, regulatory, innovation, and economic forces shaping mining and minerals, including mining law, permitting, litigation trends affecting critical mineral exploration and development, executive strategy, risk management, workforce development, geopolitical pressures, legislation, and energy security. Connect includes an exhibit hall spanning engineering and consulting, legal and financial services, environmental and ESG advising, recruitment, technology, equipment, and exploration and development. Its Business Development Forum offers one-on-one company meetings focused on opportunities and potential partnerships.

NAPE Summit combines an energy prospect and property expo with a business conference and expo hubs covering oil and gas, critical minerals, renewable energy, offshore activity, minerals and non-operating interests, data centers, and bitcoin mining. The Critical Minerals Hub addresses exploration, extraction, processing, and regulatory, market, and supply-chain factors; other hubs cover energy and digital infrastructure, data-center power demands, and offshore regulation, technology, and leasing. The Energy Business Conference has business and technical tracks. Its agenda covers U.S. and global energy-market outlooks; grid capacity and AI-driven electricity demand; AI adoption, scaling, and governance in energy; and how conflict, trade disputes, cyber threats, supply-chain disruptions, strategic minerals, and energy security affect markets and investment. Technical sessions address AI in subsurface workflows—including geospatial tools, OSDU and harmonized datasets, and seismic analysis—and emerging opportunities in mature basins, including direct lithium extraction from Arkansas’s Smackover Formation, geothermal co-production in the Bakken, helium and hydrogen resources, and horizontal development. The expo also features prospect presentations and a government affairs session.

The agenda covers economic development, recent business expansions, and the future of energy production and costs. Sessions address women's experiences and challenges in manufacturing; the 2026 General Election and its potential effects on the 2027 legislative session and WVMA legislative agenda; and Helsing, an autonomous systems manufacturer based in Berkeley County. Other discussions cover long-term employer-employee relationships and retaining a multigenerational workforce; moving a new plant from prototype to full-scale production, including permitting, supply-chain challenges, and workforce development; and West Virginia University's NSF RETI grant, an industrial energy innovation hub focused on grid management, storage, cybersecurity, and reliability, along with programs from the WVU Industrial Extension. A final energy-sector discussion examines policy and public opinion on maintaining versus pursuing new markets and the effects of an anti-growth stance on development and economic growth in West Virginia.

Jointly hosted by the American Nuclear Society and the Nuclear Energy Institute, NECX brings together utilities, advanced reactor developers, suppliers, regulators, policymakers, investors, engineers, researchers, project leaders, and innovators. Programming includes executive plenaries, technical sessions, and expert-led discussions focused on nuclear deployment, commercialization, investment, and industry growth. Focus areas include advanced nuclear deployment; manufacturing and AI innovation; regulatory affairs; project integration; supply-chain sourcing; workforce development; plant reliability and engineering; and emergency preparedness. The expo-hall Spotlight Stage features presentations on emerging technologies, practical insights, and solutions related to nuclear deployment, operations, innovation, and commercialization.

The program is being shaped through a call for panel and workshop ideas on geothermal topics, challenges, innovations, and opportunities. The event page describes Nevada as a major geothermal center, with more than 25 geothermal plants and electrical generation capacity second only to California. Peppermill Resort uses geothermal energy for its pools, hot tubs, shower water, and mechanical systems, and reinjects geothermal fluids underground.