The application of Computers and Operations Research in the Mineral Industry (APCOM) conference will be held this year in Vancouver, Canada, from 6-9 October 2009. APCOM is a biennial global event for mining professionals, researchers and suppliers, hosted by the Canadian Institute of Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum. Vancouver is home to more than 700 junior mining companies and industry leaders. The 2009 APCOM symposium will present papers on systems of knowledge management, computer modelling in different areas of mining process, operations research, automation, robotics and virtual reality. APCOM 2009 will be the place to learn about the latest developments likely to spearhead the next step for changes in mining technology and effectiveness. The leaders of mining technology development will participate in APCOM 2009. Researchers, academia, OEMs and OTMs, as well as the mining companies themselves, will contribute to the program lineup. From fully autonomous machines through the technologies that will be required as part of a communications and supervisory control backbone, global leaders attend APCOM to ensure they remain aware of the major drivers of innovation.