People and companies make Australia's mining industry great. Through recognition of the most brilliant performances we draw attention to the quality and effort of an entire industry and the many Australians who year-in-year-out make it happen.

The degree of effort and discernment given to the judging of any industry award is the ultimate measure of its significance to the recipients and to the industry. With this value at our core, it is with great interest that the Sydney Mining Club this year takes up the task of convening and managing the judging of the 2008 National Mining Awards.

The Awards are for Australian's operating here and overseas who are making technical and economic contributions that fuel the global mining business. National Mining Awards are given with rigorous adherence to tight criteria, with consistency and without favour.

The National Mining Awards will be announced at the National Mining Awards Gala Dinner, held at the Hilton Hotel, Sydney on Tuesday 16th September 2008.

Nominations close on 29th August, 2008.

Criteria for Individual Awards

1. The Discovery of the Year Award
The Discovery of the Year Award is given to the Discoverer of a new or emerging resource where size or economic significance of the deposit and, at the discretion of the judges, the ingenuity, scientific endeavor, perseverance, lateral thinking or other human merits have played a contributed to the new resource.

2. The Producer of the Year Award
New, expanded and sustained production efforts are recognized by the Producer of the Year Award with attention to the value of product, the degree of adversity faced, the quality of management applied and the significance of the effort to production peers.

3. The Deal of the Year Award
The Deal of the Year Award is for corporate and individual contributions in the re-matching of assets, companies and capital.

4. The Growth Story of the Year
Growth is measured in market capitalization, profits, dividends, Resource inventory, and capability on the ground. For some companies one of these KPIs tell the story, for others it is a cocktail that distinguishes the winner of the Growth Story of the Year Prize.

5. The Frontier Explorer of the Year
Australia's pool of talent in the mining business is a driver for the global industry in answering the ever-changing demands of a resource hungry planet. The Frontier Explorer Award recognizes the push into new geopolitical spheres, new environments, places and dimensions in the industry's quest to deliver the mineral materials of civilisation.

6. The Applied Technology of the Year Award
From the Bronze Age to the Silicon Age, Man's ascent has been driven by the ability to treat rocks with technologies. With the large, shallow and obvious deposits now mostly depleted, we are looking deeper into the Earth of resources, using lower grade bulk resources and chasing an extraordinary new spectrum of materials used in our high-tech lifestyles. Technology itself is leading the cause in satisfying these new levels and types of demand. The Applied Technology Award recognizes those who have taken the edge forward in its use.