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MINERALS INDUSTRY EDUCATION AND TRAINING II

Education and research is organised according to the four sub-discipline
research groups of mining, mineral processing, environment and
management/Social Science (Figure 1). This ensures that graduates receive
broad exposure to all aspects of mining, hopefully minimising the “silo”
mentality so often criticised in the industry.
Staying Relevant and Up to Date

First and fore-most the teaching faculty need to stay relevant and up to date.
This is managed in several ways, and facilitated by members of the Institute’s
Industry Advisory Committee. Regulat interaction between academic staff
and industry ensure a strong focus on industry-relevant content.

The Keevil Institute introduced an industry exchange program, known
locally as a “Co-op program”, in the late 1990s, where bachelors students
spend 12 months in industry during their studies and masters students
take 4 to 8 month internships. They undertake constructive, relative, paid,
technical engineering work with approved industry organizations. In many
cases interns are considered by employers for fulltime employment.

When this program was introduced there was an immediate and notable
change in the level of discussion in the classroom as students shared
knowledge and information, despite the fact that not all students had
co-op experience. The direct exposure to practical mineral processing
grounded the program. Partners involved in the co-op program (see the
example in Table 1) have become partners in education as well.

Table 1: MEng internship partners
MEng Internships
Barrick Gold
CESL Research
Cliffs Natural Res.
Eldorado Gold
Golder Associates
Grande Cache Coal

Meeting the Challenges of a
118 Section 4
Changing World