Latenews October 2007

Mineralogical Society of Japan.
On behalf of the Council of the Japan Association of Mineralogical Sciences, the IMA Secretariat was informed on the creation of a new Mineralogical Association by Eiji Othani. e-mail of Eiji Othani

On the 22th of September, 2007, a new society was created in the field of Mineralogical Sciences, namely the Japan Association of Mineralogical Sciences (JAMS), by combining two pre-existing Japanese societies, the Mineralogical Society of Japan (MSJ), and the Japanese Association of Mineralogists, Petrologists, and Economic Geologists (JAMPEG). These two societies which are older than 50 years, have been leader in the field of mineralogical and petrological sciences. Recent research development within Earth and Planetary Materials Sciences has required more intimate interactions among disciplines covered by both societies, thus leading to their merging into a larger association.

JAMS takes over all of the functions from MSJ as the supporting organization representing Japan for IMA. The Journal of Mineralogical and Petrological Sciences (JMPS), which has been published by MSJ and JAMPEG, is now the official journal of the new society JAMS.

From the Commission on Applied Mineralogy (CAM) : Announcement of a short course:
What :School on Synchrotron X-ray and IR Methods Focusing on Environmental Sciences
When: 21-23 January 2008
Where: Synchrotron Radiation Source ANKA, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany
Who: Institute for Synchrotron Radiation, supported by EU N2 Networking Activity (I3 Project IA-SFS) and European X-ray Spectrometry Association
Info: http://ankaweb.fzk.de/conferences/EUN2school/

IMA medal Committee: The nine members of the IMA medal Committee are : Masaki Akaogi, Christian Chopin, Barb Dutrow, Herta Effenberger, Catherine McCammon, Roberta Oberti, Igor Pekov, Mark Welsh and Joel Grice who is chairman of the Medal Committee.

Recall : Call for IMA medal nomination
The deadline for nominations is April 2008. See the IMA Medal page in the IMA website to get the nomination checklist. If you would like more information or to make a nomination please contact Joel Grice, Chairman of the IMA medal Committee.

Meetings

See Latest News of September 2007

ICAM 2008 - the 9th International Congress for Applied Mineralogy -
8 to 10 September 2008, Brisbane Australia
An initiative of The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, CSIRO and JKTech. Website : http://www.icam2008.com/

The Congress will cover applied mineralogy in the broadest sense and will be an excellent opportunity for the presentation of the latest basic and applied research results and state-of-the-art overviews by international specialists.
Applied mineralogy embraces numerous applications of mineralogy in the mineral, metallurgical, chemical and materials industries, as well as in waste recycling, environmental assessment and medicine. As an interdisciplinary field, it involves characterisation of a wide variety of crystalline materials including ores, mineral concentrates, engineering materials, biomaterials and industrial residues.
The main Congress themes will include: Advanced materials Analytical techniques and automated instrumentation Applied mineralogy in precious metals Biominerals and biomaterials Cement and construction materials Ceramics and glasses Cultural heritage Don Hausen Environmental and medical mineralogy Geometallurgy and process mineralogy Industrial minerals, including gems Mineral exploration Oil reservoirs Ore mineralogyCongress Chair: Dr Ying Gu, JKMRC, Brisbane Australia

Key submission dates: Abstracts submitted by the 16th of November 2007
Notification of acceptance in January 2008
Abstracts should be no more than 300 words (in English) and must address the themes of the ICAM Congress.
Abstracts should be submitted to: Kristy Pocock, Senior Publications Coordinator, The AusIMM, PO Box 660, Carlton South, Victoria, 3053, AustraliaTelephone: + 61 3 9662 3166, Facsimile: + 61 3 9662 3662
Email

Enquiries: Alison M McKenzie, Events Department, The AusIMM, PO Box 660, Carlton South, Victoria, Australia 3053
Telephone: +61 3 9662 3166; Facsimile: +61 3 9662 3662
Email

Joe Mandarino by Robert Gait and Malcolm E. Back (see also latest news of September 2007)
Photograph: Quintin Wight, Ottawa

The General Assembly of the United Nations has proclaimed 2008 as the International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE). Its subtitle 'Earth Sciences for Society' reflects the IYPE's main ambition: to make our planet a safer, healthier and wealthier place for its human societies by ensuring a greater and more effective use of the knowledge accumulated by the world's 400,000 Earth scientists.

the International Year of Planet Earth Corporation is organizing an International IYPE Student Contest.