South Africa’s Council for Geosciences (CGS) says it will use its stand at this year’s Investing in African Mining Indaba conference and exhibition, which takes place from February 4 to 7, in Cape Town, to promote the thirty-fifth International Geological Congress (IGC).

“We hope to attract delegates from the event to support the 2016 IGC, which will also be held in Cape Town, and we want to meet potential sponsors for the event,” says CGS marketing and communications specialist Nthombikayise Jacha.

The CGS, the Geological Society of South Africa and the South African national committee of the International Union of Geological Sciences submitted South Africa’s bid to host the conference in 2008.

In that same year, South Africa won the bid to host the thirty- fifth IGC, which will bring together the most important role-players in the geoscience field. A local organising committee (LOC) was established in 2009 to plan and administer the event.

In August last year, at the closing ceremony of the thirty-fourth IGC, in Brisbane, Australia, outgoing IGC president Neil Williams presented IGC joint president and LOC chairperson Professor Richard Viljoen with the President’s Cup, officially handing over the conference to South Africa.

“The Investing in African Mining Indaba is the largest mining- and geology-related event in Africa, attracting all the major role-players in the African geosciences and mining industries.

“This makes it an ideal venue for us to reach as many of these role-players as possible,” says Jacha.

She adds that the CGS has prepared posters and other promotional material, which it plans to distribute to delegates, in preparation for the event.

“It is important for us to drum up as much support as we can, as we are planning to host the best-ever IGC for South Africa and Africa as a whole.

“Previous events of this nature proves that the IGC provides renewed interest in the geosciences and in the mining opportunities available in the host country,” she says.

Jacha points out that the IGC also highlights the most recent advances in the geosciences field and promotes networking among geoscientists worldwide.

“At the most recent IGC, held in Australia last year, 6 000 geoscientists from 137 countries were present and 3 232 presentations were made,” she says.