FEATURE
IS MINING ENGINEERING STILL AN OPTION FOR ASPIRING STUDENTS? A report by Swan Global Investments on addressing the mining skills gap states that, for the next 25 years, there will be a high demand for metals in the world to meet the requirements pertaining to the 4IR. The report amplifies the pressing skills shortage that needs to be addressed as students’ interest in mining declines, and the industry becomes increasingly characterised by an ageing workforce that needs to be replenished. It furthermore highlights five key areas driving the lack of interest in mining: a lack of information pertaining to mining, climate change, resistance to coal-fired power stations (which are detrimental to a healthy lifestyle), uncertainty in job opportunities due to the cyclical nature of mining, and politics.
The Department’s Prof Francois Malan believes that, because commodity cycles are part of mining, the next super cycle is probably not far away. Here, capital will flow into the mining industry on a much larger scale than ever before. This will result in a severe skills shortage, and the mining industry will lure good students with attractive benefits. Mining engineers will require skills that have previously been thought to reside in the domain of computer engineering and computer science.
Mining is no longer merely a male-dominated domain. The fact that mining operations can be controlled from afar in a digital age, minimising workers’ exposure to harsh conditions, offers a much wider scope of opportunities for young women who are in possession of critical and creative thinking skills, and are challenged to solve complex problems.
The adoption of new
The adoption of new technologies should make the industry even more attractive to a new generation of tech-savvy students who are born into a technologically advanced world. The multidisciplinary nature of the future mining industry will also attract students with an interest in other engineering disciplines, but with a foundation in mining engineering. In addition to conventional mining engineering skills, it will also be an option for individuals who are keen to develop leadership skills in order to get the most out of people.
technologies should make the industry even more attractive to a new generation of tech-savvy students who are born into a technologically advanced world. Mining engineers will require
Postgraduate students in the Department are very positive about the viability of mining engineering as a career option. It has been said that there has never been a perfect mine, and until there is, there will always be problems to solve and the chance to add value. Although the saturation of conventional miners in the industry is a possibility, the demand for imaginative individuals has never been higher.
multidisciplinary skills that
While mineral resources are still among the country’s primary have previously been thought sources of raw material and make to reside in the domain of a big contribution to the country’s GDP, mining will remain a viable computer engineering and career option. Added to this is the computer science. In addition, the increased focus on expected demand for new minerals smart technology related to the 4IR such as rare earth elements that are will ensure that the career prospects used for cutting-edge technological for mining engineers will be even applications, and the prospect of more diverse and exciting. Graduates who are trained in asteroid mining and deep-marine mining. According to the skills required for the modern workforce are creative, Prof Webber-Youngman, this will open up new avenues for innovative thinkers, and are prepared to deal with the mining as a career with the potential to continue for many complexities that the mining industry presents. years to come.
DEPARTMENT OF MINING ENGINEERING
30
ANNUAL REVIEW 2020/21
