NMEC Mineral Exploration Summit

The NMEC Mineral Exploration Summit is held annually in Reno, Nevada in October to early November.

The summit brings together people in government and industry with presentations on topics including; proposed or new legislation at the national or state level, new developments at local, state and federal agencies, and new developments in the exploration industry.

Registration will open in late August to early September, look for brightly colored action bar notification and link on the home page. Below are the 2023, 2024 and 2025 programs

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The 2025 summit was held October 28, 2025. Below are the sessions and speakers*

*Some speakers have authorized NMEC to link to their presentation decks. Look for underlined links below.

Morning Sessions

• 8:00-8:30 – Elizabeth Zbinden, Acting President, Nevada Mineral Exploration Coalition: Election and Business Meeting (annual report), and tribute to Dave Shaddrick.
• 8:30-10:15 – First Morning Session:
  • Due to the government shutdown in effect at the time of our meeting, Lacy Trapp and Sandra Brewer were unable to present. In lieu of their talks, Debra Struhsacker presented a discussion on recent executive and secretarial orders to streamline permitting and gave a second presentation on specifics of changes to NEPA.
  • The original program consisted of three presentations covering actions and polices of the new administration, and their effects on the Nevada exploration & mining industry.  These include:
    • Lacy Trapp**, Branch Chief, Solid Minerals Branch, Division of Minerals and Energy, Bureau of Land Management: New Permitting options and how they affect Nevada (final confirmation pending)
    • Sandra Brewer**, Resource Advisor, BLM NV State Office, Office of the State Director: New NEPA guidelines and how they affect Nevada (final confirmation pending)
    • Debra Struhsacker, Environmental Permitting and Government Relations Consultant: Overview of the Trump administration’s Executive and Secretarial Orders, mining policies and Congressional activities important to mining. (confirmed)
• 10:15-10:30 – Coffee break
• 10:30-12:00 – Second Morning Session
  • Panel presentation – Moderated by Eli Turner – State of the Nevada Exploration Industry with CEO’ of several Nevada junior companies including: Bill Howald (Blackrock Silver Corp), Kimberly Ann (Lahontan Gold Corp), Chad Peters (Ridgeline Minerals Corp), and Caleb Stroup (Headwater Inc)

Luncheon

• 12:00-1:30 – Luncheon: Simon Jowitt – Title: Understanding the impact and value of publicly available precompetitive geoscience data for mineral exploration

Afternoon Sessions

• 1:30-3:00 – First Afternoon Session
  • 1:00-2:00 – Rob Ghiglieri, Administrator Nevada Division of Minerals – State of Nevada’s Mineral Industry
  • 2:00-2:30 – James Settelmeyer, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources – DCNR and Mineral Exploration: Regulatory and Administrative Changes 
  • 2:30-3:00 – Rich DeLong, Natural Resources Committee of Nevada State Assembly And Nikki Bailey-Lundahl, NvMA VicePresident of External Affairs: Legislative Issues being considered during the intersession 
• 3:00-3:15 – Coffee break
• 3:15-4:00 – Second Afternoon Session
  • Adelya Makhankova, Octavia Technologies Inc – Bringing Seismic Back: Integrating Seismic Interpretation and AI for Uranium Exploration 

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The 2024 summit was held October 24, 2024. Below are the sessions and speakers

First morning Sessions

• 8:00-8:15 – Dave Shaddrick, President, Nevada Mineral Exploration Coalition: Election and Business Meeting (annual report)
• 8:15-8:45 – Mark Compton (AEMA): Political/Regulatory Update
• 8:45-9:15 – Amanda Hilton, President, Nevada Mining Association: (title to be announced)
• 9:15-9:45 – Jeff Clark, Founder/Editor, The Paydirt Prospector: (title to be announced)
• 9:45-10:15 – Mark Travis, Consulting Economic Geologist: U.S. Uranium: Policy & Exploration
• 10:15-10:30 – Coffee break

Second morning sessions

• 10:30-11:00 – Lucia Patterson, Geologist/GIS Specialist, Nevada Division of Minerals: (title to be announced)
• 11:00-11:30 – Deborah Goetz, President /CEO, Landres Management Services: (title to be announced)
• 11:30-12:00 – Chase McNamara, Policy Advisor on Natural Resources for Governor Lombardo: (title to be announced)

Luncheon

• 12:00-1:00 – Luncheon: Rich DeLong, Nevada State Assemblyman: Natural Resource issues in the upcoming legislative session

First afternoon sessions

• 1:00-2:30 – Eli Turner, Project Geologist, Orogen Royalties: Comprehensive review of public lands issues AND Debbie Struhsacker, Environmental Permitting and Government Relations Consultant: (title to be announced)
• 2:30-3:15 – LeRoy Shingoitewa, Tribal Monitor Group Manager/Program Lead, WestLand Engineering & Environmental Services AND Chantae Lessard – Head of Mason Resources, Hudbay Minerals: (title to be announced)
• 3:15-3:30 – Coffee break

Second afternoon sessions

• 4:00-5:30 – Lithium Panel: From exploration to recycling
  • Caleb Cage, Coordinator, NV Battery Coalition
  • Tim Crowley, Vice President, Lithium Americas
  • Matt Roberts, Director of Communications, AquaMetals
  • Scott Jolcover, Chief Resource Officer, American Battery Technology

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The 2023 summit was held October 10, 2023. Below are the sessions and speakers

Morning Sessions

• Dave Shaddrick, President, Nevada Mineral Exploration Coalition: “Elections and Business Meeting (annual report)”
• Lucia Patterson, GIS/Field Specialist – Geologist: “Nevada Division of Minerals Open Data Site Update: New Applications and Tools for Exploration Mineral Production and Land Data in Nevada”
• Lindsay Knox, Vice President, Government Affairs and Advocacy Group, McDonald Carano: “Drawing the Curtain on the 2023 Legislative Session”
• Richard DeLong, Nevada State Assemblyman, District 26: “The 2023 Nevada Legislative Session: What Did And Didn’t Happen”

Panel Discussion: Moderator: Eli Turner: “Update on Nevada Public Lands Bills”

• Jim Barbee: Churchill County Manager
• Doug Busselman: Executive Vice-President, Nevada Farm Bureau
• Megan Labadie: Acting Director for the Nye County Natural Resources and Federal Facilities Department

Sandra Brewer, BLM Toxicologist and Mining Biologist, Mineral Resources, Solids: “Updated on BLM proposed Conservation Rule”

Bob Potts, Deputy Director, Nevada Governors’s Office of Economic Development: “Economic Development in Nevada’s Changing Economy”

Luncheon Speaker:

Jon Price: ” Geopolitics and the Beginning of the Supply Chain for Electric Vehicles and Other Green Technologies”

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If you would like to donate to next year’s Summit – use this link :Event Sponsorship Opportunities