The symposium drew an overwhelming response from the international professional community.  According to TMS staff this is a record symposium since:   It is the biggest symposium ever organized by TMS in 132 years of its existence  It is the biggest symposium worldwide in its class comparable to the entire Copper 99 or Slag 2000 International symposium. It has a record number of co-sponsors: 38 (From professional societies, independent publishers and corporate worldwide)  Some statistics:   The number of abstract received: 262  The rate of abstracts/papers approved by independent reviewers: 82% The number of approved authors/coauthors: 533 Number of effective symposium sessions: 30 Geographical Distribution of approved papers: 37 countries in all continents: Asia (8 Countries); America (6 Countries); Europe (20 countries); Australia and Africa (2 Countries). (The order is according to the number of the papers and/or authors for each continent and country). Participate countries: Asia (Japan, China, Korea, Kazakhstan, Israel, Singapore, Thailand, India); America (USA, Canada, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Peru); Europe (Russia, Finland, The Netherlands, Austria, England, Turkey, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Belgium, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary, Germany, Norway, Albania, Romania, Slovenia, Yugoslavia); Australia and Africa (South Africa, Egypt). (The order is according to the number of the papers and/or authors for each continent and country). Two thirds of the approved papers are from Japan, USA, Canada, Chile and China.  Publications: Three separate volumes that were available at the meeting (Edited by Florian Kongoli, Kimio Itagaki, Chikabumi Yamauchi and Hong Yong Sohn):  Volume 1: Materials Processing Fundamentals and New Technologies (1360 pages) Volume 2: High Temperature Metal Production (824 pages) Volume 3: Aqueous and Electrochemical Processing (480 pages)  Number of cosponsors from Professional Societies and Independent publishers: 28  Number of cosponsors from Industrial companies: 10 The outside sponsorship financial support received : ~34,000 USD A very successful 2-day Short Course complementing the symposium: Sulfide Smelting: Principles, Technologies and Environmental Consideration. The number of registered participants 29, the biggest among all other courses. Yazawa Honorary Dinner 179 participants (another record). Numerous excellent social Functions: Yazawa Welcoming Reception: Sunday Evening, Karaoke Party on Wednesday Evening, Boat trip on Thursday afternoon and Farewell Reception on Thursday afternoon.     Florian KONGOLI Co-Chair of the Yazawa International Symposium  http://www.flogen.com/YazawaSymposium/ (San Diego, USA, March 2003) - Executive President (CEO) (Senior Researcher) FLOGEN Technologies Inc. ( http://www.flogen.com ) 5757 Decelles Ave. Suite 511 Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3S 2C3  Tel:+1-514-344-8786 ext.220 Fax:+1-514-344-0361 E-mail:FKongoli@FLOGEN.COM - Vice-Chair of Pyrometallurgy Committee of TMS (USA) -