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MODERN MINING
September 2016
EXPLORATION AND
GEOSCIENCE
feature
T
he Cape Town event is only the
second to have been hosted by
South Africa. “The first Interna-
tional Geological Congress took
place in 1878 but it wasn’t until
1929 that South Africa was given the oppor-
tunity to play host,” said Viljoen. “The venue
for this was Pretoria and the congress attracted
a very good turnout of around 500 delegates,
probably reflecting the intense interest at the
time in the Bushveld Complex and South Af-
rica’s platinum resources, with the Merensky
Reef having been discovered just several years
before. The only other IGC to have been held
on the African continent prior to the current
one was hosted by Algeria in 1952.”
As is the case with the Olympic Games and
Soccer Word Cups, countries have to bid for the
privilege of hosting the IGC, which is held on a
four-yearly cycle. “Our bid was adjudged to be
the best at the Oslo IGC in Norway in 2008 and
four years later when the Congress was held in
Brisbane, Australia, we were handed the ‘World
Cup of Geosciences’. This is an actual physical
cup and is an innovation by the Australians –
in future, each host country will pass the cup
on to the next country to play host.”
Viljoen added that the next IGC would be
held in Delhi, India, in March 2020. During
the Cape Town event, four countries (Russia,
Germany, Korea and Turkey) presented bids to
host the 2024 congress (37th IGC). The bid was
won by Korea with the Congress to take place
in the city of Busan.
Viljoen became involved in the planning of
the 35th IGC around seven years ago. “Since
then, it’s been really hard work – not just for me,
of course, but also my Co-President, Jeannette
McGill, who is, incidentally, the current
President of the Geological Society of South
Africa, our Secretary-General, Greg Botha,
who is from the Council for Geoscience, and
all the very committed members of the Local
Organising Committee. The scale of the task we
were presented with can be gauged from the
fact that we have over 2 900 oral presentations
being given at the Congress, as well as 1 700
poster presentations. We also have no less than
44 keynote addresses. To accommodate all the
Cape Town hosts successful
‘World
Pictured here at the 35th
IGC are (from left) Professor
Phuti Ngoepe (Chairman of
the Board – Council for Geo-
science), Dr Richard Viljoen
(Co-President of the 35th
IGC), Minister Mosebenzi
Zwane, Dr Jeannette McGill
(Co-President of the 35th
IGC) and Simon Sikhosana
(Acting CEO – Council for
Geoscience).
The recent 35th International Geological Congress
(35th IGC) held at the Cape Town International Convention
Centre was a huge success, attracting approximately 4 000
delegates from 117 countries. Years of preparation went
into the event – considered the ‘World Cup of Geosciences’
– with one of the key figures involved in the planning being
well-known South African geologist Richard Viljoen, who
acted as Co-President of the Local Organising Committee
(LOC).
Modern Mining’s
Arthur Tassell spoke to him on the
opening day of the Congress.