Online teaching and learning

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. 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. In addition, the increased focus on smart technology related to the 4IR will ensure that the career prospects for mining engineers will be even more diverse and exciting. Graduates who are trained in the skills required for the modern workforce are creative, innovative thinkers, and are prepared to deal with the complexities that the mining industry presents.

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. Postgraduate students in the The adoption of new Department are very positive about the viability of mining engineering as technologies should make a career option. It has been said that the industry even more there has never been a perfect mine, attractive to a new generation and until there is, there will always be problems to solve and the chance to of tech-savvy students who add value. Although the saturation of are born into a technologically conventional miners in the industry is a possibility, the demand for advanced world. Mining imaginative individuals has never engineers will require been higher. multidisciplinary skills that While mineral resources are still have previously been thought among the country’s primary to reside in the domain of sources of raw material and make a big contribution to the country’s computer engineering and GDP, mining will remain a viable computer science. career option. Added to this is the expected demand for new minerals such as rare earth elements that are used for cutting-edge technological applications, and the prospect of asteroid mining and deep-marine mining. According to Prof Webber-Youngman, this will open up new avenues for mining as a career with the potential to continue for many years to come.