Several Personalities opened the symposium with their welcoming speeches dedicated to the lifetime acheivements of Professor George Anastassakis. 

These personalities were the following: 

1. Prof. Dr. Ioannis Chatjigeorgiou, Rector of National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Greece
2. Dr. Peter Tzeferis, Mineral Raw Materials General Directorate, Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy, on behalf of: Ms ALEXANDRA SDOUKOU, Deputy Minister of Greek Ministry of Environment and Energy
3. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Spyridon Papaefthymiou, Deputy Dean, School of Mining and Metallurgical Engineering NTUA, Greece 
4. Mr. Ioannis Michalakis, M.Sc., Head of the Regional Branch of Crete, Hellenic Survey of Geology and Mineral Exploration H.S.G.M.E.
5. Mr. Christos Kavalopoulos, General Director of Greek Mining Enterprises Association 

They described the contribution of Prof. George Anastassakis in the field of mineral processing and highlighted his achievements. 

There are well-known colleagues  of Prof. Anastassakis, Georgios Papadimitriou, Julius Rubinstein and Ljubisa Andric that sent letter of Congratulations that are given here: