MinSouth is the result of the merger of a local branch of the Institute of Mining Engineers, the IMinE, and a local section of the Institution of Mining & Metallurgy, the IMM. The IMinE represented mining, electrical and mechanical engineers working primarily in the British coal industry, whereas the IMM represented mining, process and metallurgical engineers and geologists in the non-coal mining sectors such as metal mines and industrial minerals extraction.

The local branch of the IMinE, the Southern Counties Institute of Mining Engineers has the much longer history. It was inaugurated on 22nd January 1958 at a meeting at Hobart House, then the headquarters of the IMinE. From that date, it held regular technical meetings.

On 19th January 1994, the Southeast of England Section of the IMM, SEESIMM, was formed at a meeting at 44 Portland Place, the IMM Headquarters. The IMM had for many years run meetings in London, at which professional papers were presented. The papers were generally those that had been published in the IMM Transactions. Those meetings and associated dinners provided a focus for IMM Members in London and the South East of England and there was little motivation to form a section in London, as elsewhere in the UK and Overseas. However, during the 1980s, attendance at the meetings fell away. Hence the late formation of the IMM local section to fill the void.

In 1995, the two organisations joined with the Minerals Engineering Society, also active in London, to co-ordinate our activities under the name of the South East Mineral Association, SEMA.

Then in July 1998, the parent bodies, the IMinE and the IMM merged under the name of the IMM. So, naturally, the local organizations themselves merged to form a local branch. This was very successful in our case, as we were already working together.

This was followed, in 2002, by further consolidation of national bodies when the new IMM merged with the Institute of Materials, the IoM, to form the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, IOM3. Branches were required to be separately constituted. Our branch reverted to its 1958 title of the London & Southern Counties Mineral Industries Institute, known as MinSouth, and a new constitution was approved in October 2004.

Since then, MinSouth has become a well-established brand for mining professionals in London and the south-east of England, holding regular technical meetings and attracting sponsorship from industry to promote relevant education for future professionals.

To mark the 60th anniversary of the inauguration of Southern Counties Institute of Mining Engineers, a dinner was held on 22 January, 2018, in the City of London. Over 50 members were present, including several Past-Presidents and Martin Cox, President of IOM3, and Craig Sillars of the Department for International Trade gave the after-dinner talk on the topic of innovation during his career in mining and infrastructure. Fittingly, given MinSouth activities in assisting future professionals, Pat Willis of Bara Consulting, which is a Gold Sponsor of MinSouth, presented a cheque for GBP1,000 to Hannah Burt of the Camborne School of Mines.

Hannah Burt receiving her prize from Pat Willis

© Copyright by Minsouth.org.uk