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A ROADMAP FOR MINERALS PROCESSING EDUCATION
Integrated study of ALL facets of running a mining and minerals
processing facility is not commonly taught.
We need Teachers with strong mineral engineering knowledge and
practice
Bring in experts from different fields to deliver lectures.
University/Industry Partnerships
There is evidence of good industry engagement with academic institutions.
Respondents were asked to indicate whether they or others from their
organisation regularly engaged with education and training at Universities.
Of the 45 who are not from academia or research institutions, 15 are
personally involved in teaching or engaging with institutions, another 10
are aware of industry engagement and only 13 (34%) are unaware of any
industry engagement with Universities. This means that nearly two thirds
of the survey’s non-academic respondents are engaged with education
providers. Given the importance of academic -industry partnerships, this
is an excellent result.
Ongoing Training and Professional Development
Graduates will never start work as fully formed Minerals Engineers
no matter how good a job universities are doing. There will always be
a need for ongoing professional development, but especially so in an
environment where undergraduate degrees vary in content and quality,
and a significant imbalance exists between graduate supply and demand.
The survey included some questions about how companies addressed this
important issue.
The first question asked about the mechanisms by which organisations
deliver minerals engineering professional development and training.
Answers indicated that most organisations use a bit of everything. However,
on the job training is by far the most prevalent, and next comes mentoring
and coaching. Formal training courses are much less common, and where
they exist they are frequently in-house (Figure 11).
Mineral Engineering Knowledge and 37
Skills for Today’s Industry
