Keynote Speakers

Large Language Model (LLM)

A large language model is an artificial intelligence (AI) tool that can generate or revise text based on patterns it has learned from large amounts of written material. Examples include ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot. However, authors remain fully responsible for ensuring that any LLM-assisted content is accurate, original and properly referenced, and that any necessary disclosures are made.

Steve Feldgus

Steve Feldgus is the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management at the Department of the Interior (DOI), where he oversees several agencies, including the Bureau of Land Management and the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, and served as the lead staff member for the Interagency Working Group on Mining Regulations, Laws, and Permitting. Before joining DOI in the Biden Administration, he was Deputy Staff Director for the House Natural Resources Committee, specializing in mining and energy issues, and also worked for the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, and various offices during his 16 years in Congress. He holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Massachusetts and a doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin.

Conference Topics

Acid Mine Drainage Control and Prevention Techniques
Active Treatment Innovations and Applications
Passive Treatment Innovations
Abandoned Mine Drainage Water Management – Extracting Geothermal Energy from Mine Water
Tailings and Tailings Ponds
Circular Economy and Resilience Issues with Mining-influenced Water
Beneficial Uses of Mining-influenced Water
Rare Earth Elements in Mine Water
Ecology and Microbiology of Mine Water
Water Issues for Mine Waste Storage Facilities
Mine Water Safety Issues
Socio-economic Issues with Mine Water
Stream Restoration
Hydrology and Mine Geochemistry
Mine Closure and Associated Legacy Issues
Case Studies

Paul Ziemkiewicz

Dr. Ziemkiewicz, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA, received his Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia and an MS and BS from Utah State University in the biological sciences. After graduation, he worked for ten years with the Alberta Department of Energy before coming to West Virginia University in 1988 to serve as the Water Research Institute director. The Institute develops and carries out environmental research projects in the region and nationally. Research focus areas include managing and treating waste streams from coal mining and oil and gas development. Major research programs include acid mine drainage, critical mineral and rare earth recovery, coal ash, water use in power generation, coal mine reclamation, industrial water treatment, and watershed restoration.

Dr. Ziemkiewicz will summarize West Virginia University’s work over the past 8 years on recovering rare earth elements from acid mine drainage and developing large-scale water treatment plants to optimize the recovery and production of rare earth elements and critical materials.

Tiff Hilton

Tiff Hilton is from a family of coal miners and engineers. He received a B.S. in Mining Engineering and started with Eastern Associated Coal Corp. as a resident engineer at a mine near Fairmont, West Virginia, USA, but spent most of his time underground as a section foreman, construction foreman, fire boss, etc. From there, he worked for several different coal companies but finally ended up at a company where acid mine drainage was a serious problem. So he began a career in the evaluation and treatment of acid mine drainage and started a company called WOPEC, Working On Peoples Environmental Concerns, in 1989 and has done evaluation work for nearly every coal company in the Appalachian Region with AMD. He branched out into non-coal and has consulted for companies mining for example Kyanite, Granite, Cinnabar, Copper, and Phosphate. He will share his experiences in water treatment, water treatment ponds, and distribution of flow in these ponds.

Robert W. Nairn

Robert W. Nairn, PhD, BCES, is an Environmental Scientist with more than 35 years of experience in mine water biogeochemistry and treatment. A western Pennsylvania native, he is a first-generation college graduate from a family of steelworkers and coal miners. He holds a B.S. from Juniata College and was employed as a Research Biologist with the U.S. Bureau of Mines Pittsburgh Research Center before completing a Ph.D. at The Ohio State University. He has been on the University of Oklahoma School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Science faculty since 1997, where he serves as the Robert W. Hughes Centennial Professor of Engineering, David L. Boren Distinguished Professor, and Sam K. Viersen Family Presidential Professor, as well as Director of the Center for Restoration of Ecosystems and Watersheds, Associate Director of the Water Technologies for Emerging Regions Center, and Adjunct Professor of Biology. His research focuses on watershed biogeochemistry and ecological engineering and emphasizes naturally occurring biogeochemical and ecological processes contributing to pollutant retention and ecosystem services provision in passive treatment systems and related nature-based solutions.

His presentation proposes a unifying role for a nature-based solutions approach to mining reclamation, environmental remediation, ecological restoration, and sustainable resource recovery. More than two decades of mine water research at legacy hard-rock mining sites provides a template for future efforts in the transition to a renewable energy economy.

Carmen Mihaela Neculita

Carmen M. Neculita is a Professor and Canada Research Chair in the treatment and management of mine water as well as a former Canada Research Chair in mine water treatment at RIME (Research Institute on Mines and Environment)-UQAT (University of Quebec in Abitibi-Temiscamingue), Canada. Previously, she was an Assistant Professor in civil and environmental engineering at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology), South Korea. She also worked for 10 years in mining and public service. Dr. Neculita holds a master’s degree and a doctorate in mineral engineering from Polytechnique Montréal, and a chemical engineering degree from Iasi Polytechnic Institute, Romania. Her research interests include geoenvironmental engineering, mine water treatment and mine site rehabilitation. She (co)-supervised 60 master's and doctoral students and published 95 articles in scientific journals, as well as 8 book chapters.

The talk of Dr. Neculita will emphasize the advantages and limits of using natural and residual materials, both raw and modified or activated, for mine water treatment and mine site rehabilitation, with examples of case studies for closed and abandoned mines. Research needs for further studies will also be identified.

Kym L Morton

Dr Kym L Morton is a mine water strategist and consulting mining hydrogeologist. She has over 40 years of experience in mine dewatering design, tailings water management, risk reduction and mine water management. Her focus is always on reducing the negative effects of water on mines which concomitantly always reduces the impact on the environment. Qualifications include PhD Imperial College London on mining hydrology, an MBA in entrepreneurship and innovation from Imperial College London, MSc in hydrogeology from University College, London and BSc honours Kings College London. She is a Chartered Geologist (UK), Fellow of the Geological Societies of the UK and South Africa and Fellow of the Southern African Institute of mining and metallurgy. Kym is the CEO of KLM Consulting Services and consults internationally on mine water risk, water supply and dewatering design. Clients include De Beers’, Ivanhoe, Anglo American, Freeport McMoran, Rio Tinto, BHP, First Quantum and many others, covering Coal, Diamonds, Iron Ore, Copper, Lithium, Chrome, Gold and Platinum.

Her talk will be on the phased approach to mine dewatering design.

Paul Ziemkiewicz

Steve Feldgus

Tiff Hilton

Robert W. Nairn

Carmen Mihaela Neculita

Kym L. Morton