Volunteer-led member group

Southern California Mining Section

Connecting California geology students with the professionals who hire them — mining, metallurgy, and exploration.

Dinner meetings put a working engineer in the same room as students, employers, and guests. Volunteer leaders host the evening. National membership stays at SME.

November 12 dinner About the section

Aerial view of the Mountain Pass rare-earth mine and processing facility in California, with the open pit, plant buildings, haul roads, and desert mountains. — Mountain Pass rare-earth mine and processing facility, California. Photograph by Tmy350, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Reduced-resolution copy.

Next dinner Thu, Nov 12, 2026

Time 6–9 PM Pacific

Place Ontario, California

Tickets Students $15 · General $45

Why show up

SoCal SME is the local unit of a professional society. The reason to come is the room: students who want into the industry, and the people already doing the work.

A working engineer on the program

Evenings combine networking with a speaker. On November 12 that speaker is Peter Landi, SVP Engineering at MP Materials, for a dinner on the company’s rare-earth mine.

Students are invited, at a student price

Geology students are invited, and this dinner is $15 for students. General admission is $45. Industry guests are welcome in the same room.

Local hosts, national society

Volunteers run the section and the registration. Membership, publications, and career resources stay with SME at smenet.org.

Upcoming

November 12 dinner with MP Materials

Peter Landi, SVP Engineering at MP Materials, is the speaker. Mountain Pass, pictured on this page, is the California rare-earth mine and processing plant tied to that evening. Tickets and any further program notes are on the registration page.

When Thursday, November 12, 2026, 6–9 PM Pacific
Where Dave & Buster’s, 4821 Mills Circle, Ontario, CA 91764
Price Students $15 · General $45

Stepped open-pit benches at the Mountain Pass rare-earth district, California, with desert mountains under a bright sky. — Benches at the Mountain Pass rare-earth district, California. U.S. Geological Survey, public domain. USGS media page (image associated with Kathryn Watts / Office of Communications).

Alluvial fan spreading from dark desert mountains toward a pale salt flat in Death Valley, seen from Dante’s View. — Alluvial fan, Death Valley, from Dante’s View. Photograph by Wilson44691, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons. Reduced-resolution copy.

A section, in plain language

The Southern California Mining Section is a local unit of SME, the professional society for mining, mineral processing, metallurgy, exploration, and related fields. Across the country, sections host dinner meetings, and they are where students, employers, and working professionals actually meet.

SoCal SME is volunteer-led. Write smesocal1850@gmail.com for the local section. Join the national society at smenet.org.

Read the full about

From California ground

Gold in quartz, a Grass Valley mine, a Bodie mill, and an open pit. These are reference photographs, not pictures of section dinners.

Native gold leaves on a pale quartz specimen from the Eagles Nest Mine, Placer County, California. — Gold-quartz vein, Eagles Nest Mine, Placer County. Photograph by James St. John, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

A line of rusted steel ore carts on a short track at the Empire Mine in Grass Valley, California. — Ore carts, Empire Mine, Grass Valley. Photograph by Cullen328, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Reduced-resolution copy.

The Standard stamp mill at Bodie, California: weathered wooden and metal mill buildings on a sagebrush slope. — Standard stamp mill, Bodie, California. Photograph by Supercarwaar, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Reduced-resolution copy.

Haul trucks and an excavator on the floor of an open-pit mine under a bright sky. — Open-pit haul trucks and an excavator. Photograph by Deyler Rivera Segura, Pexels License. Location not identified as California.

More photographs, with places labeled