Mining Schools

As is known young people who are in their last year at school are planning the next stage in their education. The variety of courses at universities and colleges is extensive but many young people don't have any clear idea about the career they wish to fol­low. Those who are primarily motivated by wealth tend to choose law, business administration, economics or accountancy. Those in­terested in fame may choose the arts, the stage, or the media.

Except perhaps in the countries with successful manufacturing industries such as Germany and Japan, where engineers tend to be held in higher regard, a career in engineering is not often recom­mended with any enthusiasm by school teachers, politicians, TV, newspapers or teenage magazines. Those influencing young peoph tend to be pop singers, TV actors and sports stars.

It is no wonder, therefore, that many engineering degree courses find it difficult to attract students, with the result that young gradu­ate engineers in many fields are in short supply worldwide. Courses in mineral resource engineering — mining geology, rock mechanics, mining, quarrying, mineral processing, and petroleum engineering have special difficulties in recruitment.

However, this is only part of the story. After graduation and the award of a degree, there is a strong wish to abandon the subject matter of the course and enter a career offering more reward: com­merce, banking, accountancy or stock bracking. This causes disap­pointment to the academy staff who wasted all their efforts to give useful practical knowledge to the students. There is one more bar­rier to recruitment into the mining industry where management trainees should spend several years of practical training under­ground or in the mill. Modern mining and processing machinery, computer controlled and high in output capacity, cannot and should not be operated by young management trainees: nowadays operators are often highly skilled and from their ranks should come the line supervisors. Management trainees, after a brief pe­riod to acquire general knowledge about the operation, would be better trained by acting as assistants to managers and consulting engineers, and gain experience in planning surveying and ventilation departments, all areas where knowledge learned at a mining school can be utilized to good advantage.

It should be noted that there are mineral engineering courses which must provide a wide and general tuition, covering not only

mineral extraction and processing methods but also economics, business administration, computer studies, communication skills and basic civil and mechanical engineering which are vital for im­portant career development to senior ranks.