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A ROADMAP FOR MINERALS PROCESSING EDUCATION
Global Mineral Engineering Curriculum Review

DIANA DRINKWATER
Chair, IMPC Education Commission

Introduction

The IMPC Commission on Education was established in 2008 to address
concerns about the worldwide supply and demand of mineral processing
talent, and the degree to which minerals engineers possess the skills
needed to make the best use of available tools and technology. The
Commission has already published a comprehensive study of graduate
supply and demand (Cilliers 2013), and the current focus is on the content
and quality of undergraduate Minerals Engineering programs.

Anecdotal data collected during the supply/demand study in 2011
suggested that there is a mismatch between what is being taught in
some minerals engineering schools and current industry needs. Today’s
undergraduate students will enter a very different industry from the one
for which much of the mineral processing curriculum was developed.
Education providers need to understand technological trends and
changing practices across different commodity sectors and geographical
regions if they are to build the appropriate workforce capacity for today’s
minerals industry.

The industry of the 21st century is global, not regional; it is driven by cost,
not value and the license to operate is of critical importance to all. There
is a strong focus on risk, technical expertise is often off-site, and reliable
process diagnostics are often scant despite vast amounts of data being
generated by modern processing plants and operations.

Global Mineral Engineering 61
Curriculum Review