2003 SME Luncheon at Longwall USA

The traditional SME Luncheon at Longwall USA was held on June 4 at the Pittsburgh Convention Center.  Pete Lilly, COO of CONSOL Energy, was the keynote speaker.  Pete spoke about the "Future of Longwall Mining".  The presentation was enjoyable because Mr. Lilly shared long and diversified coal industry experience with most of the audience.  The challenges to longwall mining that he identified in his speech are common to all mining companies and need to be overcome though cooperation with both the equipment industry and government regulators.