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Following in the tradition of Kalgoorlie’s annual Goldfields Mining Expo and the biennial Queensland Mining Expo (QME) in Mackay, M&E has this year adopted one of the country’s major mining centres as its home, with event organiser Reed Exhibitions saying the move to Muswellbrook was based on customer feedback.

“With an ever-expanding industrial presence in the Hunter Valley, including the ramping up of mines such as Mt Arthur and increased traffic through the port of Newcastle, the region is primed for M&E 2005, itself a rich resource of information and opportunity,” the company said.

According to exhibition manager John Gorton, the bulk of the show’s audience will be drawn from mining and power generation companies in the wider Hunter region, and will include a significant proportion of key decision-makers.

“In 2001, M&E attracted almost 3000 visitors,” he said. “The new location combined with the value-added programs that we have designed to connect visitors with exhibitors, will ensure that M&E will once again be a great success.

“While we’re targeting the mine managers, procurement managers and buyers from these organisations, we anticipate there will be a fair few of the operators and engineers there. These people also often have a fair bit of influence in the purchase decisions.”

A first for the M&E event in 2005 will be the introduction of a “Meet the Buyers” session, a successful feature of past QME shows run by Reed. Gorton said exhibitors had the opportunity to approach selected companies – in M&E’s case they will be Rio Tinto and Muswellbrook Coal – and seek a meeting with them to make a 15-minute pitch.

“It’s entirely up to Rio and Muswellbrook Coal whether they take up the meeting or not. We don’t have any influence there,” he said. “Nor does Meet the Buyers replace the booth visits. It’s an added bonus.”

Run over three days from September 20-22, visitors to M&E 2005 can expect to see the latest offerings from a wide range of industry suppliers.