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A ROADMAP FOR MINERALS PROCESSING EDUCATION

year of coursework, have indicated that students have developed an
enhanced appreciation for the complexity of sustainable mineral resource
development, the challenges associated with different stakeholders, as
well as the need for value-based leadership and governance. The students
also show a deeper understanding of, and tolerance for, the perspectives
and viewpoints of their colleagues from different disciplines, and have
emphasised the extent to which the programme has increased their self-
awareness. This is both in terms of their personal attributes and beliefs, as
well as their potential capacity to contribute to the society in which they
function. This understanding and knowledge has not only underpinned
their research projects, but also influenced the day-to-day functioning in
their workplace.

The academic staff involved with this programme have also benefitted
through engagement with academics from other disciplines and external
stakeholder organisations. The programme has thus generated a number
of new research areas and collaborative partnerships, both internal and
external to the university.
Future Perspectives

The mining and minerals industry faces some of the most difficult sustainability
challenges of any industrial sector. To secure its continued ‘social licence’
to operate, the industry must respond to these challenges by engaging its
many different stakeholders and addressing their sustainability concerns,
as well as by adopting sustainability principles in their operations. The
Master of Philosophy (MPhil) specializing in Sustainable Mineral Resource
Development programme is a step towards developing and equipping
future leaders with the capacity to meet these challenges by developing
skills and knowledge that can be used by all stakeholder.

It is, furthermore, envisaged that the benefits gained from this experience
are likely to extend beyond the mining sector through the development
of trans-disciplinary research capacity for solving complex sustainability
problems in general, as well as practical guidelines in how such research
should be practiced.

A Masters-Level Degree Programme to Support the Development of 205
a Sustainable and Socially Responsible Minerals Industry in Africa