Welcome

We are pleased to announce that the 11th Conference on the Mechanical Behavior of Salt (SaltMech XI) will take place on July 8 – 10, 2025 in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA. The icebreaker will be at the hotel on the 7th of July 2025. The full program can be found here.

SaltMech XI is being organized by the Geoscience Research and Applications Center of Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA.

Launched in 1981, the SaltMech Conferences series serves to exchange research findings and practical experiences regarding the mechanical behavior of rock salt in the context of safe use in mining, energy storage and waste disposal. Hydrogen storage in salt will also be a featured topic at SaltMech XI.

The conference will take place in beautiful Santa Fe, the capital of the State of New Mexico which is a short drive from Albuquerque. Santa Fe is one of the oldest continuously occupied cities in the USA, with a fascinating blend of Native American, Spanish, Mexican, and Old West and modern American cultures. We look forward to welcoming you to the Land of Enchantment in 2025!

Abstract submission is now closed.  Authors whose abstracts are accepted will receive instructions on how and where to upload their papers.  The paper submission deadline is November 15, 2024.

Preliminary topics

  • Laboratory Testing
  • Monitoring and Site-Specific Studies
  • Constitutive Modeling
  • Modeling and Simulation
  • Micromechanics and Microstructures
  • Geology of Salt Formations
  • Salt Caverns, Cavern Abandonment and Long-term Integrity
  • Geological and Geotechnical Barriers
  • Geological Storage of Energy (oil, methane, compressed air, hydrogen) and Hazardous Waste
  • Mining

Important Dates

  • !!Abstract submission deadline: Friday August 16, 2024!!

  • Full paper submission deadline: Friday November 15, 2024

  • Final paper submission deadline: January 17, 2025

  • Registration deadline: May 23, 2025

  • Conference dates: July 8-10, 2025

  • Notification of abstract acceptance: Friday September 13, 2024

  • Comments to authors: December 13, 2024

  • Registration opens: February 10, 2025

  • Badge, conference bag and conference volume collection, ice-breaker: July 7, 2025

  • Technical tour/field trip: July 11, 2025

     

     

Present Advisory Committee

  • Dr. Marta Adamuszek (Polish Geological Institute – National Research Institute, Poland)

  • Dr. Laura Blanco-Martin (Mines ParisTech, France)

     

  • Dr. Jan Thiedau (BGR, Germany)

     

  • Mr. Stuart Buchholz (RESPEC, USA)

  • TBD (TBD)

  • Dr Benjamin Reedlunn (Sandia National Laboratories, USA)

  • Mr. Steven R. Sobolik (Sandia National Laboratories, USA)

  • Prof. Dr. Christopher Spiers (Utrecht University, The Netherlands)

  • Dr. Till Popp (IfG Leipzig, Germany)

  • TBD (TBD)

Organising Committee

contact us via: info@saltmech.com

  • Mr. Steven R. Sobolik (Sandia National Laboratories, USA)

  • Donald M. Conley (Sandia National Laboratories, USA)

  • Dr. Mathew Ingraham (Sandia National Laboratories, USA)

  • Dr. Edward Matteo (Sandia National Laboratories, USA)

    • Prof. Dr. John Stormont (University of New Mexico, USA)

    • Melissa Mills (Sandia National Laboratories, USA)

    • Tonya Ross (Sandia National Laboratories, USA)

  • Clare Amann (Sandia National Laboratories, USA)