Fifty-second General Assembly and Technical Meeting
Almaty, Kazakhstan
The Tantalum-Niobium International Study Center held its annual conference at the Rahat Palace Hotel in Almaty, Kazakhstan, from October 16th to 19th 2011; this was the Fifty-second General Assembly in the T.I.C.'s history.
On October 17th and 18th, technical presentations were given in two half-day sessions.
Delegates, guests and accompanying persons enjoyed a Welcome Reception on Sunday evening and a Gala Dinner hosted by NAC Kazatomprom and Ulba Metallurgical Plant JSC on Monday night. Entertainment followed Kazakh traditions with dancing, singing, folk music, and finally falconry where all the guests had the opportunity to pose with a live falcon or an eagle resting on their arm, and so admire these wonderful creatures.
On Wednesday, Ulba welcomed delegates to a tour of the company’s facility located in Ust-Kamenogorsk, one hour's flight north of Almaty. The plant tour included the full breadth of tantalum operations from mineral dissolution and extraction to metal reduction, ingot formation, electron beam melting and metal working, as well as capacitor powder production. During their time on the site, delegates also had the opportunity to pair up to plant a tree sapling and were given a guided tour of the Ulba museum which covered the plant's history from its establishment in 1949. A guided bus tour along the Ulba and Irtysh rivers then brought the delegates to a restaurant for a banquet lunch with live entertainment by a singer and folk musicians.
The accompanying persons enjoyed a two-day sightseeing programme. They toured the city by guided bus, including visits into the surrounding foothills with the world's highest ice-skating rink, a view over Almaty and a cable car ride down to the centre. The second day included a visit to an ostrich farm and the beautiful Issyk mountain lake.
General Assembly
The General Assembly was held on the morning of October 17th. Four companies were elected as new members of the association, bringing the total membership to 86.
Mr Richard Burt, Mr Lawrence Stryker and Mr Barry Valder did not stand for re-election to the Executive Committee. Despite the vacant positions, for the first time in the T.I.C.'s history there were more candidates for the Executive Committee than the twelve positions allowed for by the T.I.C.'s Charter. Of the thirteen candidates, the member delegates elected the following twelve people to form their Executive Committee: Mr John Crawley, Mr José Isildo de Vargas, Mr Alan Ewart, Mr Alexandr Gagarin, Mr David Henderson, Mr Jiang Bin, Mr Ian Margerison, Mr William Millman, Mr Hiroya Nishimoto, Dr Daniel Persico, Dr Karlheinz Reichert and Mr Itamar Resende. Of these twelve, Mr José Isildo de Vargas was elected as President of the T.I.C. for the coming year.
