As a leading Tailings, Water and Waste Management company, ATC Williams is committed to staying at the forefront of industry practices. Sponsoring and participating in conferences allows us to learn from other professionals while sharing our expertise with the broader community.
We attended two conferences in June and July where staff delivered presentations highlighting our team’s deep understanding of the industry and ability to provide bespoke, scientific and data-driven solutions.
2023 Australian Landfill & Transfer Stations Conference
20–22 June 2023
Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre
Hosted by The Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia (WMRR)
The conference theme was “Essential Infrastructure for Australia’s Future” and provided a forum to discuss opportunities, pathways, and models to drive the industry forward.
L-R: Joe McLeod, Rowan Cossins, Mal Jones
ATC Williams has earned a reputation as one of Australia’s largest and most experienced Waste and Resource Recovery companies. Our dedicated team demonstrated their commitment to the industry with a strong showing of attendance over both days.
Five of our Queensland-based team travelled to Melbourne, with four presenting at the conference. An event booth allowed us to readily engage with attendees and give away lots of goodies!
Presentations were delivered by:
Joe McLeod, Principal Engineer (QLD)
“Managing risk at the customer/waste interface in your waste facility.”
Rowan Cossins, National Waste Leader / Principal Engineer (QLD)
“Landfill – maximise and optimise!”
Prathama Igor, Senior Associate (QLD)
“Addressing the unique challenges of piggyback landfilling over soft and compressible soils in North Queensland.”
Mal Jones, Senior Principal, (QLD)
“Challenges of developing a landfill in a former hard rock quarry.”
Featured from L-R: Joe McLeod, Rowan Cossins, Prathama Igor, Mal Jones
“The conference was a great success, with a strong showing by the ATC Williams Waste and Resource Recovery team. Being the first in-person ALTS for a few years, it was good to personally catch up with a range of site operators, owners, regulators and peers and discuss how we collectively meet the challenges of the waste and resource recovery industry.”
– Rowan Cossins, National Waste Leader
Mine Waste and Tailings Conference 2023
13-14 July 2023
Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
Co-hosted by AusIMM and The University of Queensland
The conference featured many industry-leading keynote presentations centred around innovations and the evolution of mine waste and tailings management.
We had a large representation from ATC Williams with thirteen staff attending the conference including six staff from our Melbourne office who travelled to the Sunshine State to attend and present at the conference. Our team was excited to gain new insights and skills while strengthening connections with their interstate colleagues.
Testing our staff’s CPT strength! Behrooz managed a 750kpa hand push CPT, and Reza achieved 1099kpa which was the conference best and all time high! From now on Reza will definitely be sent out for any site works.
ATC Williams was proud to offer silver sponsorship to the 2023 MWT conference and three staff members volunteered on the organising committee.
Over the two days, three of our tailings and dam experts presented sessions, and two were panellists. A booth at the conference facilitated many connections and showcased our tailings, water and waste expertise.
Our staff participated in the following sessions.
Day One: Thursday, 13 July 2023
SESSION 2A: Selection of parameters for TSF and WRD design
Reza Asadi, Behrooz Ghahreman Nejad and Mahdi Miri Disfani:
“Advance Numerical Approach for Investigation of Rockfill Mechanical Behaviour”.
Presented by Reza Asadi.
L-R: Reza Asadi, Behrooz Ghahreman Nejad, Mahdi Miri Disfani
SESSION 2B: Monitoring and surveillance / Emergency response
Morteza Ghamgosar, Gideon Steyl and Kathy Tehrani:
“Deformation Monitoring Systems in Tailings Dams”.
Presented by Morteza Ghamgosar.
L-R: Morteza Ghamgosar, Gideon Steyl, Kathy Tehrani
SESSION 3A: Tailings dam breach and runout assessment / Tailings dewatering and placement / Tailings liquefaction and seismic response
Zerui (Thomas) Lu and Behnam Pirouz:
“Flood Failure Sub-Categories for Tailings Dam Break Failure Impact and Consequence Category Assessments”.
Presented by Zerui (Thomas) Lu.
SESSION 4: Company Governance and Standards
Keith Seddon participated as a panellist discussing “What governs? – GISTM, TSM, ICOLD, ANCOLD or CDA”.
L-R: Zerui (Thomas) Lu and Behnam Pirouz, Keith Seddon, Hernán Cifuentes
Day Two: Friday, 14 July 2023
SESSION 5: “Alternative Tailings Technologies and Management”.
Hernán Cifuentes, PhD. was selected as a panellist discussing alternative tailings technologies.
“Conferences provide invaluable experience for our travelling team members, who benefit from networking and learning about industry advancements. Connecting with colleagues from other offices while enjoying a few social activities is a welcome bonus.”
– Reza Asadi, Experienced Engineer
We encourage these experiences, which contribute towards fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing, and building solid relationships within our organisation.
