Mining engineering is the extraction of minerals from the ground. It is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, metallurgy, geotechnical engineering and surveying. A mining engineer may manage any phase of mining operations, from exploration and discovery of the mineral resources, through feasibility study, mine design, development of plans, production and operations to mine closure.
History of mining engineering From prehistoric times to the present, mining has played a significant role in the existence of the human race. Since the beginning of civilization, people have used stone and ceramics and, later, metals found on or close to the Earth's surface. These were used to manufacture early tools and weapons. For example, high-quality flint found in northern France and southern England were used to set fire and break rock.Hartman, Howard L. SME Mining Engineering Handbook, Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration Inc, 1992, p. 3. Flint mines have been found in chalk areas where seams of the stone were followed underground by shafts and galleries. The oldest known mine on the archaeological record is the "Lion Cave" in Eswatini. At this site, which radiocarbon dating indicates to be about 43,000 years old, paleolithic humans mined mineral hematite, which contained iron and was ground to produce the red pigment ochre.Peace Parks Foundation, "Major Features: Cultural Importance." Republic of South Africa: Author. Retrieved Aug. 27, 2007, .
The ancient Romans were innovators of mining engineering. They developed large-scale mining methods, such as the use of large volumes of water brought to the minehead by aqueducts for hydraulic mining. The exposed rock was then attacked by fire-setting, where fires were used to heat the rock, which would be quenched with a stream of water. The thermal shock cracked the rock, enabling it to be removed. In some mines, the Romans utilized water-powered machinery such as reverse overshot water-wheels. These were used extensively in the copper mines at Rio Tinto in Spain, where one sequence comprised 16 such wheels arranged in pairs, lifting water about .The Romans in Britain: mining
Black powder was first used in mining in Banská Štiavnica, Kingdom of Hungary (present-day Slovakia) in 1627. This allowed blasting of rock and earth to loosen and reveal ore veins, which was much faster than fire-setting. The Industrial Revolution saw further advances in mining technologies, including improved explosives and steam-powered pumps, lifts, and drills.
Education
Becoming an accredited mining engineer requires a university or college degree. Training includes a Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng. or B.E.), Bachelor of Science (B.Sc. or B.S.), Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech.) or Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) in mining engineering. Depending on the country and jurisdiction, to be licensed as a mining engineer may require a Master of Engineering (M.Eng.), Master of Science (M.Sc. or M.S.) or Master of Applied Science (M.A.Sc.) degree.
Some mining engineers who have come from other disciplines, primarily from engineering fields (e.g.: mechanical, civil, electrical, geomatics or environmental engineering) or from science fields (e.g.: geology, geophysics, physics, geomatics, earth science, or mathematics), typically completing a graduate degree such as M.Eng, M.S., M.Sc. or M.A.Sc. in mining engineering after graduating from a different quantitative undergraduate program.
The fundamental subjects of mining engineering study usually include: mathematics; calculus, algebra, numerical analysis, statistics geoscience; geochemistry, geophysics, mineralogy, geomatics mechanics; rock mechanics, soil Mechanics, geomechanics thermodynamics; heat transfer, mass transfer hydrogeology fluid mechanics; fluid statics, fluid dynamics Geostatistics; spatial analysis control engineering; control theory, instrumentation surface mining; open-pit mining underground mining (soft rock) underground mining (hard rock) computing; DATAMINE, MATLAB, Maptek (Vulcan), Seequent (Leapfrog), GEOVIA (Surpac), Deswik, K-MINE, Micromine, Golden Software (Surfer), MicroStation, Carlson drilling and blasting solid mechanics; fracture mechanics
In the United States, about 14 universities offer a B.S. degree in mining and mineral engineering. The top rated universities include West Virginia University, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Virginia Tech, the University of Kentucky, the University of Arizona, Montana Tech, and Colorado School of Mines.A complete list can be accessed from smenet.org. Most of these universities offer M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.
In Canada, there are 19 undergraduate degree programs in mining engineering or equivalent.Undergraduate Mining courses in Canada. IDP Canada. https://www.idp.com/canada/search/mining/undergraduate Retrieved June 30, 2021. / McGill University Faculty of Engineering offers both undergraduate (B.Sc., B.Eng.) and graduate (M.Sc., Ph.D.) degrees in Mining Engineering.McGill University. Sunset of a Transformational Career. Chapter 16 in: White F. Miner with a Heart of Gold: a biography of a mineral science and engineering educator. Friesen Press, Victoria. 2020. ISBN 978-1-5255-7765-9 (Hardcover) ISBN 978-1-5255-7766-6 (Paperback) ISBN 978-1-5255-7767-3 (eBook) and the University of British Columbia in Vancouver offers a Bachelor of Applied Science (B.A.Sc.) in Mining Engineering and also graduate degrees (M.A.Sc. or M.Eng and Ph.D.) in Mining Engineering.
In Europe, most programs are integrated (B.S. plus M.S. into one) after the Bologna Process and take five years to complete. In Portugal, the University of Porto offers an M.Eng. in Mining and Geo-Environmental Engineering and in Spain the Technical University of Madrid offers degrees in Mining Engineering with tracks in Mining Technology, Mining Operations, Fuels and Explosives, Metallurgy. In the United Kingdom, The Camborne School of Mines offers a wide choice of BEng and MEng degrees in Mining engineering and other Mining related disciplines. This is done through the University of Exeter. In Romania, the University of Petroșani (formerly known as the Petroşani Institute of Mines, or rarely as the Petroşani Institute of Coal) is the only university that offers a degree in Mining Engineering, Mining Surveying or Underground Mining Constructions, albeit, after the closure of Jiu Valley coal mines, those degrees had fallen out of interest for most high-school graduates.
In South Africa, leading institutions include the University of Pretoria, offering a 4-year Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng in Mining Engineering) as well as post-graduate studies in various specialty fields such as rock engineering and numerical modelling, explosives engineering, ventilation engineering, underground mining methods and mine design; and the University of the Witwatersrand offering a 4-year Bachelor of Science in Engineering (B.Sc.(Eng.)) in Mining Engineering as well as graduate programs (M.Sc.(Eng.) and Ph.D.) in Mining Engineering.
Some mining engineers go on to pursue Doctorate degree programs such as Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D., DPhil), Doctor of Engineering (D.Eng., Eng.D.). These programs involve a significant original research component and are usually seen as entry points into academia.
In the Russian Federation, 85 universities across all federal districts are training specialists for the mineral resource sector. 36 universities are training specialists for extracting and processing solid minerals (mining). 49 are training specialists for extracting, primary processing, and transporting liquid and gaseous minerals (oil and gas). 37 are training specialists for geological exploration (applied geology, geological exploration). Among the universities that train specialists for the mineral resource sector, 7 are federal universities, and 13 are national research universities of Russia. Personnel training for the mineral resource sector in Russian universities is currently carried out in the following main specializations of training (specialist's degree): "Applied Geology" with the qualification of mining engineer (5 years of training); "Geological Exploration" with the qualification of mining engineer (5 years of training); "Mining" with the qualification of mining engineer (5.5 years of training); "Physical Processes in Mining or Oil and Gas Production" with the qualification of mining engineer (5.5 years of training); "Oil and Gas Engineering and Technologies" with the qualification of mining engineer (5.5 years of training). Universities develop and implement the main professional educational programs of higher education in the directions and specializations of training by forming their profile (name of the program). For example, within the framework of the specialization "Mining", universities often adhere to the classical names of the programs "Open-pit mining", "Underground mining of mineral deposits", "Surveying", "Mineral enrichment", "Mining machines", "Technological safety and mine rescue", "Mine and underground construction", "Blasting work", "Electrification of the mining industry", etc. In the last ten years, under the influence of various factors, new names of programs have begun to appear, such as: "Mining and geological information systems", "Mining ecology", etc. Thus, universities, using their freedom to form new training programs for specialists, can look to the future and try to foresee new professions of mining engineers. After the specialist's degree, you can immediately enrol in postgraduate school (analogue of Doctorate degree programs, four years of training).
Salary and statistics Similar to other types of engineers, mining engineers have a relatively high salary in comparison to other career fields. Mining engineering is also a stable job market to enter, with job openings being almost always readily available.
Job growth
As a general trend, salaries of mining engineers have been increasing throughout the world. The job is estimated to grow between 2-5% depending on the source, which is slower than most jobs. Although the job growth is small compared to the average growth rate of 14%, there are still many available job openings in the mining industry. This is due to the relatively low number of graduates, and the constant flow of people retiring from the workforce.
Job stability
Mining engineering has extremely high job stability relative to other career paths. Since many industries require mined materials to function, there will always be a need for the mining industry. However, there are concerns about a workforce shortage caused by many people retiring from the industry within the next 10 years. With the current predicted number of employees entering the field, there will not be enough to replace those who are retiring as well as fill the need for new employees from industry growth.
Salary
Mining engineer salaries have been rising globally, with engineers in the United States, Canada, and Australia making the highest earnings relatively. Mining engineers are among the highest-paid engineer grouping, typically placing in the top 10 of most charts. This can partially be attributed to petroleum engineering, a subset of mining engineering, which is particularly lucrative due to high market demand for petroleum. CountryAverage SalaryUnited States$121,945Canada$125,934Bahamas$86,212Bulgariaлв 49,124China¥ 360,032Czech RepublicKč 1,063,590Ecuador$37,401France€78,633Germany€94,959Hong Kong SAR$708,776
Pre-mining
As there is considerable capital expenditure required for mining operations, an array of pre-mining activities are normally carried out to assess whether a mining operation would be worthwhile.