Launched at the start of the 2009 academic year, the innovative Masters in Mining Engineering program is designed to offer people with an engineering background a pathway to high level positions within the mining sector.
Dr John Smith, Associate Geologist/Engineer with Coffey Mining and lecturer in the “Soil, Rock and Tailings Mechanics” subject, said that the sector has suffered from a lack of specialised mining engineers for a long time.
“Coffey Mining has long recognised that there has been a lack of skill based post-graduate training in mining engineering in Melbourne. It is vitally important for the future of the mining industry that there be a highly skilled and capable pool of talent to draw from, in good times as well as slow times, so that high level and strategic decisions can be made from the best possible perspective.”
The Masters in Mining Engineering program has been established by Melbourne University to provide students with engineering backgrounds an opportunity to consolidate their skill base in areas pertinent to the mining sector.
Subjects in mineral economics, risk and safety management and mine planning methods will allow students to gain a high level understanding of mining operations.
Dr Smith said that Coffey Mining is keen to contribute to an improvement in the number and ability of specialised mining engineers in the long term.
Coffey Mining CEO Dan O’Toole, said that it is important to recognise that the fundamental drivers of the mining sector skills shortage are still with us, despite the slow down in the sector associated with the Global Financial Crisis (GFC).
“A large percentage of the mining sector professionals are approaching retirement age and the industry has suffered from insufficient numbers of graduates for over a decade. Despite the GFC there are still mining operations struggling to fill engineering positions.”
Mr O’Toole believes Coffey Mining has to do as much as possible to address the skills shortage now so that skilled candidates are available to fill high level and particularly specialised mining roles when commodities prices inevitably improve.
Melbourne University’s Associate Professor Bill Bamford, creator of the Masters in Mining Engineering program, said that students can expect to come out of the program armed with the specific skills and management knowledge to meet industry demand.
“Rather than undertake a research-based program, this course allows engineers to upskill and focus specifically on the area of mining engineering, which they can do while working or through an intense year of full time study.
“By looking at economics, mine design and mine safety, we have structured the Masters course to allow students to develop skills that will complement their technical knowledge in engineering,” he said.
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Media contacts
Diana Krause, Global Manager External Communication
T: +61 3 9473 1300; M: +61 420 959 942; E: diana_krause@coffey.com
Note on attached photos:
Students in the “Soil, Rock and Tailings Mechanics” course recently spent a day at Coffey Mining’s Notting Hill office which included hands-on geotechnical logging of rock core.
The subject includes a project based on samples and data from working mines requiring the students to analyse and solve real problems encountered in mining engineering work.
