The conference, which attracts some of the leading coal researchers in Australia and will be held at the University of Wollongong in New South Wales in February, will be widening its scope to include infrastructure, Aziz said.

“We are also interested in receiving abstracts on new topics, in addition to the traditional listed topics in the ‘call for papers’, he said.

“We are keen to receive abstracts on topics such as mass transportation of coal by rail and road (road trains) and the geotechnical challenges involved in safe design and maintenance of train tracts for long loaded trains with ever increasing travelling speed; heavy mining haul trucks; development in drilling machinery; development in explosive technology for safer environment; and shaft sinking.”