On December 5, 2023, the 18th Saint Barbara Conference took place at the Técnico Lisboa Congress Center, an organization of NUMIST - Núcleo de Minas do IST and which had the support of DER and several business entities, namely  Orica Mining Services Portugal, Visa Consultores, Stone CITI, Somincor, Epiroc, Sibelco, Secil and Fravizel Engineering.

The conference began with a welcome and networking session, filled with meetings and reunions between new and old colleagues.

The presentation session was started by Prof. Rogério Colaço, President of Técnico Lisboa, thanked everyone for their presence. Then, LEME Student Guilherme Calado, Vice-President of NUMIST, gave the floor to the first speaker, Prof. Pedro Bernardo, who gave a speech about the 20th anniversary of the first organization of these days.

There was also the opportunity to present the Filstone Merit Award to LEME students Margarida Figueiredo and Margarida Grou.

This was followed by interventions from other guests from various companies, namely Eric Dumaresq (business manager at  Orica Mining Service), DER alumni, Luísa Bento (Nemus), Dinis Miranda (Somincor) and Project Manager João Casacão (GALP) and Rui Pereira (Epiroc).

The presentation period was closed by the vice-president of Técnico Lisboa, Prof. Pedro Amaral who highlighted the importance of the relationship between academia and business, with these conferences being a good example of this dynamic.

The closing of the 18th Saint Barbara conference was marked by a cake commemorating the 20th anniversary of the first organization of these days.