Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Minerals Industry
Education and Training

Cilliers, Drinkwater, Heiskanen

Editors:
Jan Cilliers
Diana Drinkwater
Kari Heiskanen
 Minerals Industry
Education and Training
A collection of papers from the Special Symposium on Human
Resource Development, held during XXVI International Mineral
Processing Congress (IMPC 2012), September 24-28, 2012,
New Delhi, India

Editors
Jan Cilliers (Imperial College London, UK)
Diana Drinkwater (JK Tech, Australia)
Kari Heiskanen (Aalto University, Finland)

Organizers

IIME
The Indian Institute
Indian Institute of
of Metals
Mineral Engineers

Main Sponsors
Copyright © 2013:
The Indian Institute of Mineral Engineers and International Mineral
Processing Congress (IMPC) Council

Editors:
Jan Cilliers (Imperial College London, UK)
Diana Drinkwater (JK Tech, Australia)
Kari Heiskanen (Aalto University, Finland)

This book or any part thereof may not be reproduced in any form without
the written permission of the publisher.

ISBN 81-901714-4-5

Published by:

IIME
Indian Institute of
Mineral Engineers

THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MINERAL ENGINEERS

National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur - 831 007

Designed and printed by:

New Concept Information Systems (P) Ltd, New Delhi
communication@newconceptinfosys.com
Foreword
The mining and minerals industry has for many years voiced its concern about
the availability of well-trained, young professionals. As a result, the International
Mineral Processing Council created in 2008 a Commission on Education to explore
this issue and report back to Council. The task of the Commission was to determine
the number of mineral engineering graduates worldwide, and to compare that to
the demand from industry.

After an extensive survey was performed by the members of the Commission,

chaired by Professor Cilliers from Imperial College London, the initial findings were
published at several conferences in 2010 and 2011.

As a result of the interest these findings generated, a dedicated session on Minerals

Engineering Education was proposed by the Council as part of the XXVI IMPC
Congress held in September 2012 in New Delhi. With the support of Congress
President, Dr. Pradip, a Special Session on “Human Resource Development” was
organized, with twelve papers being presented. The session was well received
and the lecture room was packed, with insightful questions and discussion. During
the session a proposal was put forward to separately publish the papers presented
as a collection; this book is the product of the same.

There are three main messages from the session and which are running themes
throughout this collection of papers that we hope will be further explored in future
IMPCs.

Firstly, mineral engineering education, in terms of numbers, is shifting from

developed countries to countries where the exploitation of earth resources is
seen as a way to enhance the economic development of the society. China has
for the first time been included in such a survey. In sheer numbers it dominates
the annual graduation of engineers with over 50% of a total of 5700 graduates
a year. There are several countries where the number of graduates has, as
claimed, decreased to unacceptably low numbers. It was estimated by Professor
Cilliers and his team that in Australia, North America and Europe the number of
graduates seems to be low compared to the demand. This has happened much
because of policy choices made by the universities. Mineral engineering has
always been a small, specialized discipline not easily fitting the quest for larger
and more generic engineering disciplines driven by many universities. This has
caused the discontinuation of many programs in US and Europe. At the other end
of the spectrum are the countries where mineral production is large, but training
of engineers has not grown to meet the demand: Africa, Asia (China not included)
and partly South America.

The growth numbers presented by Professor Cilliers, as well as presenters from

various countries, showed that many South American countries estimate their
graduate numbers to increase substantially (over 50%) during the coming years.
According to the survey, the growth in numbers in the other parts of the world are
very modest or even stagnant or declining. Especially India, Australia and most of
African countries seem to stay well below the numbers expected to be needed by
the industry.

Another issue pointed out in the session, is the “leakage” of engineers from the
minerals engineering discipline to other professions. This is especially marked in
Europe and Africa. In Africa, an academic degree seems to open up a large variety
of career paths resulting in only half of the graduates to follow a career in minerals
engineering. In Europe, many of the graduates find their way to careers, which
are part of the larger mining cluster, foreign exchange, banking, technology and
engineering companies, and even law.

The second strong message from the session was that with the joint effort of
academia and industry very high quality training of engineering graduates with
different non-mineral backgrounds can be achieved. There were several programs
reported where employed young engineers were participating in industry-sponsored
training. Examples came from Australia, South Africa and Finland. All these
programs had similar basic educational ideas. They all had a strong interaction
with the industry when developing their curriculum. All the curricula contained on-
site, hands-on training intertwined with more theoretical studies. Skill development
in metallurgical accounting, plant surveys, process mineralogy and process control
were central issues in teaching. They all had also elements of leadership and
economics included.

Professor Batterham, when discussing the European Bologna agreement to

harmonize European higher education degrees, delivered the final message.
There appears to be an international trend in universities in Europe, North America
and Australia that bachelor studies are becoming more generic in their engineering
learning outcomes. One can even say that in some cases we see engineering
giving way to natural sciences. The important message is that the risk increases
that several important learning needs required for a career in Minerals Engineering
will not be taught. One can mention, for example, the deep understanding of
interactions between particulate size, liberation and mineral occurrence and
properties in each particular ore. Development of that generic understanding
requires establishing a theoretical background, knowledge of the techniques
available for study and also practical training. This type of interdisciplinary skills
cannot be taught in generic programs.

All this may point towards a future where academia and industry work even more
closely together to create international programs, which will train students from
more generic engineering backgrounds. It is important that such programs also
address the issue of strengthening emerging Minerals Engineering programs the
world over.
Kari Heiskanen
Contents

Foreword iii

Section 1

Supply and Demand 1

The Supply and Demand of Minerals Engineers: A Global Survey 3
Jan Cilliers

Closing the Skill Gaps and Labor Shortages: A Priority for

Mining Companies and the Chilean Government 15
H Araneda

Section 2

University Training 27
The Impact of the Bologna Model on Mineral Processing Education:
Good, Bad or Indifferent 29
Robin J Batterham

Status and Prospect of Chinese Mineral Processing Education 37

Sun Chuanyao, Han Long and Yin Wanzhong

Manpower Development and Training in Mineral Engineering in India 49

R Venugopal

Section 3

University-Industry Supported Training 57

Mineral Industry Education and Training Trends in North America:
Challenges, Opportunities and a Framework for the Future 59
Brij M Moudgil, Ray Farinato and D R Nagaraj

Skills Gap for the Minerals Industry - A Case for Zambia 69

Jewette Masinja and Stephen Simukanga

Minerals Industry Engagement in Metallurgical Education in Australia 87

G H Lind
Section 4

Industry-Supported Professional Development 105

Transformational curriculum for B.Sc. graduates towards
Mineral Processing expertise 107
A-M Ahonen and K Heiskanen

Developing Technical Excellence in Young Australian

Metallurgical Professionals – A New Graduate Development Program 117
Diana Drinkwater and Nina Bianco

The AGDP in 2012 – Nine Years of Exceptional Graduate Training 131

J A Sweet, M C Harris, J-P Franzidis, N Plint and J Tustin
 Section 1

Supply and Demand

The Supply and Demand of Minerals
Engineers: A Global Survey
Jan Cilliers
Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom

Introduction
In 2008 the International Mineral Processing Council created a Commission
on Education. The role of this commission was clearly defined by the
Council: to study and determine the supply and demand of mineral
processing talent, worldwide. This was plainly a three-part question; how
many graduate mineral processing engineers are produced each year,
what is the demand for such engineers, and do these two match.

The Commission on Education set about this task by first addressing the
supply side question. A team of colleagues was established to collect and
collate data from all the key regions of the world. The data were collected
from universities and government agencies to give a view of the current
position (2010) and a five-year future outlook for the number of mineral
process engineering graduates. This is the most complete set of data ever
collected on this question, and covers all the key regions of the world.

The data collected included a number of additional statistics, including

the proportion of graduates that are female, an estimate of the fraction of
graduates that enter the mining industry, as well as the number and age
of teaching staff.

It was extremely difficult to get and collate data for the talent demand from
industry. In many cases this was considered commercially confidential, but
in most cases it was simply not available.

To assess the demand side, an approach based on the world production of

minerals by region will be used as a proxy for absolute numbers. While this

The Supply and Demand of Minerals Engineers: 3

A Global Survey
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

allows a comparison between regions to be made, it does not, necessarily,

show whether the supply and demand are in balance.

The Supply of Minerals Processing Engineers

1. The data collection team
The 13-strong data collection team is shown in Table 1. Data was collected
from all major regions of the world. In many regions the team member
themselves had a team below them that collected the data on a local
level and which was then collated by a team member. This was facilitated
by an agreed standard data collection format that allowed effective data
collation.

Table 1: The IMPC Commission for Education data collection and

collation team
Region Name Affiliation
Chair Prof. Jan Cilliers Imperial College London, UK
India Prof. SP Mehrotra National Metallurgical Lab, India
China Prof. Hu Yuehua Central South University, China
South America Prof. Juan Yianatos Santa Maria University, Chile
Central Dr. Alejandro Uribe- CINVESTAV, Saltillo, Mexico
America Salas
North America Prof. Jan Miller Utah University, USA
Prof. Jim Finch McGill University, Canada
Europe Prof. Kari Heiskanen Aalto University, Finland
Africa Prof. Dave Deglon U. Cape Town, South Africa
Australia Dr. Wayne Stange AMIRA (then), Australia
Middle East Prof. Guven Onal Istanbul Technical U, Turkey
Prof. Zafir Ekmekçi Haceteppe University, Turkey
Russia Prof. Vladimir Russia
Vigdergauz

2. The supply side

2.1 University data collected
The supply data was collected and refined over a period of a few years,
with the majority reported during 2009. This was collated in 2010, and

4
presented as a preliminary report on the demand side at the Brisbane
IMPC, at which requests for further information were made. During 2011,
with assistance from delegates from those regions, the data was refined
and made more complete. Table 2 summarizes the data collected.

Table 2: The supply-side questions

1. Undergraduate student How many graduated in past 5 years
numbers
Prediction of numbers up to 2015
% that entered the industry
% that are female
2. Academic staff Numbers
Age distribution

The data collected is extensive, but cannot be regarded as being fully

complete. It is certain that many universities are not included, either due
to being accidentally missed, or because the data was not received. In
some cases the data was incomplete, and estimates were made from
other universities or regions.

In particular, the data is unique as it includes for the first time accurate
data from China, as well as from Russia and the former Soviet States.
Furthermore, the data collected here gives a more detailed picture of
South and Central America than previously reported.

Nonetheless, there remain some significant gaps in the data. Only limited
data was available for the Middle East. However, data from Turkey was
especially helpful and regarded as representative of the region. Data from
Europe was also sparse, but it is known that this region is only a small
supplier of minerals engineers, and the estimates are not material to the
global situation. Detailed data from Canada were not available; these were
estimated as 50% of those of the USA.

The biggest region for which data was not available was Asia, with
the exception of China and India. This is unfortunate, as this area is a
large mineral-producing region of the world. Considering the number of

The Supply and Demand of Minerals Engineers: 5

A Global Survey
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

universities in the region that train minerals engineers, and other subjective
indicators such as the number of minerals-related papers published
from that region, it can be inferred that the number of graduates is not
substantial, and likely to be fewer than 100 per annum.

It is therefore unlikely that any of these shortcomings would have had a

material effect on the overall conclusions, and this data can be regarded as
the most complete such study to date. It can be said with confidence that
this allows a reasonable global view of the number of minerals engineers
currently graduating annually in each region of the world and that can be
expected to graduate in 2015.

2.2 The supply of minerals engineers

Table 3 summarizes the current and 2015 predicted graduate numbers for
all the regions surveyed.

Table 3: Global distribution of mineral processing graduates

Current 2015
Africa 400 450
Australia 40 60
China 2920 3040
North America 175 205
India 140 150
Russia& Eastern Europe 370 350
South & Central America 1165 1850
Turkey & Middle East 470 470
Western Europe 50 50
WORLD TOTAL 5730 6625

It can be seen that the largest predicted growth in numbers is in the South
and Central American region, and these numbers should be explored in
greater detail. The breakdown by country is shown in Table 4.

6
Table 4: South and Central America broken down by country
Current 2015
Brazil 350 525
Perú 250 375
Chile 220 396
Argentina 30 54
Mexico 145 230
Others 170 270
TOTAL 1165 1850

It can now be seen that the largest numbers are from Brazil, Perú and
Chile, where there is also a significant growth expected (>50%).

Although China currently produces by far the greatest number of mineral

processing graduates (~50%), only a modest increase in 2015 is
expected.

Most surprising is the small number of graduates produced both in Australia

and Africa, where so much of the world’s mineral wealth resides.

2.3 Female graduates

The approximate proportion of graduates that are female is shown in
Table 5, for those regions for which the data was available.

Table 5: Percentage of graduates that are female. Numbers in

brackets are for 2015, if forecast to change
% Female
Africa 48
Australia 30
China 18
North America 25
South & Central America 18 (30)

The Supply and Demand of Minerals Engineers: 7

A Global Survey
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Worldwide there is little change predicted in these proportions, except in

South America, where the proportion of female graduates is expected to
rise from 18% currently to 30% in 2015.

2.4 Graduates entering the industry

The proportion of graduates that enter the industry after graduation is
shown in Table 6, for regions where data was available. It can be seen that
the proportion is very high for all regions except for Africa, where it can be
surmized that there are many and wide opportunities for graduates.

Table 6: The percentage of mineral processing graduates entering

the industry after graduation
% of graduates
entering the industry
Africa 50
Australia 80
China 85-95
North America 90
India 100
South & Central America 85

2.5 Academic staff details

Concern has been expressed about the reducing and ageing number of
academic staff available to teach the undergraduate population.
Table 7 summarizes the data, for the regions where it was available.

Table 7: Academic staff numbers (Numbers in brackets are for 2015,

if forecast to change)
Academic staff
Africa 85
Australia 80
China 405 (516)
North America 30
South & Central America 377 (557)

8
It is of interest that only South America and China are forecasting a growth
in the number of academics. In South America, this is in line with their
growth in student numbers, to maintain the student:staff ratio at about
3.2. In China, the growth in academic numbers is faster than that of the
number of students, so decreasing the student:staff ratio from the current
7.2 to 5.9 in 2015.

The average age of academics across the world approximately is between

40 and 50.

The Demand for Minerals Processing Engineers

3. The demand side
3.1 Introduction
As noted previously, obtaining data of the current and predicted demand
for mineral processing engineers was nigh impossible. Approaches to the
major mining companies proved to be largely unsuccessful. In some cases
this was because the numbers were not available, and, in others, when
available, they could not be released.

An alternative approach is simply to argue that most graduates (>80% for

most of the world, Table 6) enter the industry, and that there is therefore an
estimate of demand. This clearly is not satisfactory, as it does not address
the potential demand.

In this study, an attempt is made to correlate the world mineral production

by region with the number of graduates from a region. While this also
does not allow an estimate of talent demand, it may indicate regions
where there is an apparent talent shortage or oversupply. Further, should
the correlation be linear, and if the shortage or excess in one region be
estimated, this can then be used to extrapolate to other regions. This may
be useful to estimate graduate numbers for the Asia region, for which data
was not available.

The Supply and Demand of Minerals Engineers: 9

A Global Survey
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

3.2 World mineral production

For this study, the World Mineral Statistics was contributed by permission
of the British Geological Survey. Table 8 summarizes the world mineral
production data by the same regions as considered in Table 3, with the
addition of Asia.

To allow comparison between regions, the percentage that each region

produces of 14 major mineral and metal products was averaged.
This average percentage is used as a proxy for the need for minerals
engineers.

In Figure 1, this average of mineral production is compared to the fraction

of Minerals engineers produced in each region (Table 3). Note again that
Asia is not represented.

Table 7 shows some interesting results. Note that China produces the largest
average fractions of the largest mineral groups the next largest mineral
producing regions are Australia, and Central- and South America, closely
followed by Eastern Europe and Russia, Africa and North America.

3.3 Comparison
The mineral production figures can be compared with the proportion of
engineers graduating in each region. In Figure 1, a linear trendline shows
the nominal correlation between them. It is known that in China most of the
engineers enter the industry (85-95%). If we also assume that China has
adequate mineral process engineering talent, the line shown is probably
too steep, and should pass closer to the point for China.

This simplistic comparison between mineral production and number of

engineers indicates that there is likely to be a significant shortfall of Mineral
engineering talent in all regions, with Australia most affected and Central-
and South America better positioned.

From the nominal correlation, the number of engineers being trained in

Asia can be estimated as approximately 450 per annum, similar to Africa
and the Middle East. It would be interesting to see whether this is borne
out by data.

10
 Percentage of mineral production, per mineral, per region

Tin
Iron

Zinc
Coal

Lead
Region

Copper
Bauxite
Alumina

Gypsum

Uranium
Gold (kg)

Silver (kg)
Magnesite
Chromium

Manganese

Phosphate Rock

Average Percentage of
mineral production by region
3.3 6.1 0.1 0.0 2.0 0.5 0.0 3.8 3.8 1.3 16.9 0.5 1.2 4.7 2.4 1.2 8.2 Western Europe
10.7 7.4 27.2 0.7 15.8 6.7 13.3 6.9 6.2 9.9 5.1 9.3 12.4 13.0 21.0 6.5 10.5 Eastern Europe
and Russia
2.9 1.7 0.0 0.0 1.5 8.0 0.3 4.5 1.2 1.9 11.9 0.7 2.0 1.2 10.0 0.3 0.4 Middle East and
Turkey
4.9 1.4 5.7 24.6 2.4 1.9 0.8 2.4 1.1 0.3 6.7 10.9 7.3 4.8 0.6 6.2 0.9 Asia
11.0 2.9 17.2 4.1 1.7 26.8 28.6 0.2 3.0 3.1 6.7 20.7 5.8 3.9 41.6 9.7 0.8 Africa
9.7 12.9 27.0 0.0 9.9 20.2 0.0 0.4 14.2 4.0 15.6 14.4 11.8 17.1 0.0 0.1 7.6 North America
12.4 21.7 0.0 22.7 44.4 0.6 1.2 0.0 10.8 2.6 7.1 18.7 44.6 1.5 0.0 12.5 9.7 Central and South
America
13.7 12.7 19.8 1.5 9.3 1.4 13.4 50.5 18.5 16.0 2.3 3.2 7.0 6.2 0.4 31.6 25.1 Australia and
Oceania
by permission of the British Geological Survey)

8.5 26.4 0.6 42.7 0.1 3.9 7.2 0.8 0.4 16.5 1.5 10.0 1.2 0.1 3.0 12.6 9.4 Brazil
18.6 5.1 1.8 0.0 12.7 28.9 28.3 29.9 38.7 34.5 24.1 11.6 6.3 39.8 1.1 11.3 23.4 China
4.3 1.6 0.6 3.7 0.4 1.1 7.0 0.6 2.1 10.0 2.2 0.1 0.2 7.7 19.9 8.1 4.1 India

A Global Survey
The Supply and Demand of Minerals Engineers:
Total mineral
tonnes [Average

11
per year per region,
2005-2009]

42,580.64
21,330.86
Table 8: World mineral production (World Mineral Statistics were contributed

301,502.38
3,555,440.10
1,844,727.23

34,275,782.58
49,317,067.00
151,941,285.9
15,059,583.96
21,335,195.60
75,196,304.70

11,131,080081
156,029,630.60
199,078,354.50

1,982,182,824.58
6,420,126,582.22
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Figure 1: Average percentage of mineral production and proportion

of minerals engineers graduated by region

30

25
Average percentage of minerals produced

20
China

15
Australia and Oceania Central and South America
(ex Brazil)

Africa
10 Eastern Europe and Russia
North America
Brazil

5
India
Middle East and Turkey
Western Europe

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Percentage of engineers produced per region

4. Summary and Conclusions

The IMPC Commission for Education has put together a detailed picture of
the world supply of minerals engineering graduate talent.

The numbers are encouraging, and almost 7000 minerals engineers are
expected to graduate in 2015. Of these, 45% will graduate in China, and a
further 28% in South and Central America. This is encouraging, as these
regions also produce significant proportions of the world’s minerals and
metals. Academic staff numbers are also increasing here to accommodate
this growth.

Africa (particularly Southern Africa) and the Middle East (particularly

Turkey) also produce significant numbers of graduates. In Africa, however,
the numbers actually entering the industry is low, possibly as they fill

12
talent gaps in other fields. There is clearly a great scope for increasing the
proportion of female engineers.

On the demand side, data was harder to come by, and an alternative
approach was taken. The average proportion of 14 key minerals and
metals produced in a region was used a proxy for mineral processing
talent demand. Comparison with the supply indicated there are apparently
too few minerals engineers graduating in regions where mining is very
important; Australia being the most significant. In North America and
Europe, the numbers of graduates are also disappointingly small.

The almost complete employment of mineral processing graduates in

China can be used as a benchmark for adequate supply. This indicates
a significant talent shortfall elsewhere, and that requires addressing
urgently.

The Supply and Demand of Minerals Engineers: 13

A Global Survey
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

14
Closing the Skill Gaps and Labor
Shortages: A Priority for Mining
Companies and the Chilean Government
H Araneda
Fundación Chile

Presented by R Kuyvenhoven, GECAMIN

Introduction
Throughout Chile’s history, mining has consistently been a leading industry
in the country. The 1990s marked the beginning of a boom in Chile’s mining
industry, especially in copper mining, due to both foreign and local direct
investment in the sector. Figure 1 shows a 359% increase in projected
copper production from 1990 to 2020.

Figure 1 : Increasing investment and production in mining in Chile

1990 – 2020

Fine Cu production
Kilotonne of fine Cu
(potential projection 2010-2020)
8.000

6.000

4.000

2.000
90

95

00

05

09

10

12

13

14

15
16

17

18

19

20
11
20
19

19

20

20

20

20

20

20

20

20
20

20

20

20

20

Fine Cu production

Source: COCHILCO

Closing the Skill Gaps and Labor Shortages: 15

A Priority for Mining Companies and the Chilean Government
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Mining’s contribution to the GDP was 15.6% at current prices in 2009, and
it accounts for 59% of the country’s exports. Chile’s copper market share
reached 35% in 2009, while the investment portfolio in mining in Chile for
the coming decade has been estimated at 90 billion US dollars.

Table 1: List of main projects US$ 90.000 MM 2012-2020

Company Project Before 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
2012
Collahusai Expansión
Collahuasi
Quebrada Quebrada
Blanca Blanca, fase 2
Antofagasta Antucoya
Min
Codelco Chuquicamata
Subterránea
Codelco Mina Alejando
Hales
Quadra Sierra Gorda
Mining
Xstrata Lomas Bayas II
BHPB Organic Growth
Project 1 OGP1
BHBP Proyecto Oxide
Leach Area Pad
BHPB Escondida
concentrate
pipelines
BHPB Truckshop
Kinross Lobo-Marte
Barrick Pascua-Lama
Barrick y Cerro Casale
Kinross
Goldcorp EI Morro
Pan Pacific Caserones
Copper
Antofagasta Proyecto
Min Integral de
desarrollo de
la mina Los
Pelambres
Xstrata El Pachón
Codelco Proyecto Nueva
Andina
Codelco Nuevo nivel
mina

16
Figure 2: Projected mining investment in Latin America 2012-2015
(1000 MM US$)

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
a

il

le

ru
do
az
in

bi

ic

m
hi

Pe
ex
nt

om

na
ua
Br

C
ge

Pa
Ec
ol
Ar

The Cost of “Doing Nothing”

17 of the 20 projects that are scheduled to come into production between 2011
and 2020 represent a net present value (NPV) of 79.412 MM US$. If the start
up of one project (assume 8% of total investment portfolio) were to be delayed
by one year, the NPV decreases with 325 MM US$ to 79.087 MM US$.

Supply vs Demand
The acute scarcity of human resources currently experienced by the
mining sector in Chile will be accentuated in the coming decade as a
result of this scenario of investments. The situation is, additionally, similar
to the one confronted by other countries involved in the mining industry
such as Australia, South Africa, Canada, and in Latin America includes
Peru, Colombia and Brazil. Figure 3 shows the gap predicted in Australia
between supply and demand 2010 to 2020 (Lowry et al. 2006).

Closing the Skill Gaps and Labor Shortages: 17

A Priority for Mining Companies and the Chilean Government
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Figure 3: Projected annual growth rates, demand and supply in

Australia (Lowry 2006)

12

10

0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Total Supply Total Demand

A study carried out by Fundacion Chile, Labor Force in the Chile Mining
Industry, Diagnostic and Recommendations, 2011-2020” shows the
projected labor shortage for the operation of projects in the development
stage, considering only the requirements of the process of extraction,
processing, and maintenance.

The information generated by this study is required to adequately plan

the development of human capital to assure sustainability and growth
projections for the mining industry for the next 10 years. Base line
information is valid for initiatives that point at closing the gaps. Five mining
companies participate, representing 83% of current Chilean Cu production
and over 90% of the projected year-2020 production. These companies
are Anglo American, AMSA, BHPB, Codelco and Collahuasi.

Projected Demand
Figure 4 shows the projected increase in labor force from 2012 to 2020
estimated by Fundacion Chile. Total numbers are predicted to increase

18
Figure 4: Demand–A 53% increase in labor force (Fundacion Chile)

15,093 15,093

8,984 9,439
7,896
7,265
5,877
5,379 8,600 8,600
3,349 4,140 4,500 5,119
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020

Contractors, sector Contractors, participating companies

Internal workforce, sector Internal workforce, participating companies

from 69.133 to 106.120 employees, which represents an increase of 53%.

This demand for additional workers will have two critical periods of rapid
increase: between 2013 and 2015, and between 2018 and 2019. Figure
5 shows the same numbers split into domestic workers and external
contractors.

Figure 5: 53% Increase in demand–Domestic workers and

contractors

50,000
40,000 28,191 28,191

30,000 20,677
19,134 20,221
20,000 16,840
9,437 16,065 16,065
10,000 11,523 11,783
1,064 2,075 9,597 10,904
0 606 1,182 5,378
2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Total demand for internal workforce from mining companies
Total demand for on-site contractors

Closing the Skill Gaps and Labor Shortages: 19

A Priority for Mining Companies and the Chilean Government
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Note that these figures refer to the operational workforce, and do not
include the human resources that will be required for the prior stage of the
engineering and construction of the projects (brownfield and greenfield).
The demand for technically skilled workers and professions for the stages
of engineering and construction of the projects that have already received
investments is estimated to be 190,000 people for the period 2012-2020.

Figure 6: Chilean Chamber of Construction estimates of manning

requirements for engineering and construction

102,654
115,268
91,376
60,396 38,536
75,520 38,536
80,239 68,372 19,036
74,976 71,416 68,372
40,526 45,364 27,563
Executed 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018
before
2012 Subtotal - participating companies
Subtotal - other mining companies

The peak in the demand Figure 7: Projected demand for

for Engineering was with engineers
witnessed in 2012, with a
Instrumentation and Control 442
figure of more than 12,000 Electrical 553
professionals required for all Civil
of the Engineering specialties. Mechanical 295
368 2,211
This is further broken down
1,474
into the sub-disciplines of
Civil, Mechanical, Electrical 2,457 2,321
1,548
and Instrument Engineering 614
in Figure 7. ment line s ject
Mana
ge Dsicipaders Engineer Prnoagers
area le Ma

20
The Supply Side
The analysis of the formation of human resources at the tertiary level
(where tertiary includes technical/vocational and academic degrees at the
undergraduate level) for mining and related majors demonstrates that the
programs are scarce with a bias towards theoretical contents and they
are excessively long (40% longer than comparable programs in Australia,
Canada, and in OECD countries). The completion rates are low, especially
in the technical-vocational programs, which have a completion rate of only
around 30%.

Figure 8: Increase in number of students at universities, professional

institutes and centers of technical education

1,200,000

1,000,000
Universities
800,000
Professional Institutes
600,000
Centers of Technical
400,000 Education

200,000 Total

0
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Finally, the rates of attraction of technically skilled labor and professionals

towards careers in mining are insufficient to reduce the identified skill
gaps. In the case of university professionals such as geologists, mining
enigneers and mineral processing enigneers, 80-90% will work in mining.
In the case of graduates of relevant majors, that cover skills also utilized
by other industries, not only mining – such as maintenance workers,
operators of fixed and mobile equipment, etc.– the mining sector appears
to be unattractive for reasons such as shift schedules, geographical
location of work sites, and other factors.

Closing the Skill Gaps and Labor Shortages: 21

A Priority for Mining Companies and the Chilean Government
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Table 2: The challenge of attracting graduates for the mining

industry

Attraction Rate
Entrance Profile Existing 2010 Required in Peak Year
Geology professional 80% -
Mining extraction 90% -
professional (Mining
engineer)
Processing professional 2.4% 5%
Maintenance professional 1.9% 14%
Mine extraction supervisor 2.0% 7%
Processing supervisor 2,4% 6%
(Metallurgy/Chemistry)
Maintenance supervisor 1.6% 19%
(Mech/Elec/Inst)
Plant process analyst 1,5% 2%
Extraction process analyst 1.5% 2%
Maintenance (Mech/Elec/Inst) 1.6% 55%
Mobile equipment operator -
(extraction background)*
Fixed equipment operator* -

* The profile of operator does not have any relation with the education system and thus “attraction rate”
does not apply.

Mining represents 2.5% of the country's workforce. If the shortfall is to be

covered, an additional 33% of graduates need to be attracted into careers
associated with mining. If we limit our requirements to the more prestigious
institutions, we would need to attract an additional 60% of these graduates
to meet the demand.

Proposed Solution
On the basis of the available diagnosis a strategy for the sector has
been developed (Workforce Development and Skills Strategy) (Figure
9). The strategy has a short term component to cover the gap between
2011-2015 and a long term component focussed on installing capacity to
assure quality and quantity. The overall objective is:

22
 (i) to define a Mining Qualifications Framework to identify the critical roles
to be filled
(ii) to start, with public resources, a ¨fast-track” training program to assure
the availability of at least 28,000 operators (machinery operators, truck
drivers, etc.) and maintenance specialists in 2015
(iii) to promote the development of training hubs for mining that utilize
educational technologies to train technical labor and professionals on
the basis of world class standards
(iv) to design and implement a campaign oriented toward the perception of
mining as an attractive field of employment opportunity
(v) to develop curricular innovations for tertiary education programs, on
the basis of international benchmarks.

The Workforce Development and Skills Strategy will address some key
issues that have been identified relating to attraction and education.

Figure 9: Proposed industrial strategy

Assure availability of TRAINING HUBS

for mining with teaching & learning
technology that optimize results

ASSURE
CAPACITY IN
FORMATION
AND
TRAINING

FROM 28.000
OPERATORS AND
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICIANS
Execution of specific-job training programs INDUSTRY-BASED
for operations and maintenance technicians APPROACH
using “intermediation” towards mining STANDARDS,
companies
ATTRACTION

• Attracting labor force

• Framework of concerns
• Assure certification capacities
• Consolidated information system of large companies

Closing the Skill Gaps and Labor Shortages: 23

A Priority for Mining Companies and the Chilean Government
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Attraction – key issues

1. Identify specific segments of society that could be interested in mining
(sex, age, regions, countries)
2. Reduce asymmetries of information that complicate offer-demand
matching
3. Develop campaigns focused on attracting labor force: key messages
(regional labor market, occasionally even global; highly technological,
etc.)
4. Make the large cities close to mine sites more attractive.

Education – key issues

1. Industrial alignment of formation and training based on demands and
focused on skills.
2. Install new capacities: training hubs, innovation in education, certification
of educational professionals worldwide
3. Fast-track programs to accelerate formation of human capital and
reduce gaps
4. Certification as guarantee of quality of results and as a sign of
confidence towards the labor market
5. In University programs, curricular innovations (Australia, etc.), mining
scholarships and other incentives.

Conclusion
Projected demand for human resources in the Chilean minerals sector
indicates an acute scarcity in the period 2012 to 2020. The Workforce
Development and Skills Strategy has been developed to address this
situation and ensure that the supply of minerals industry professionals will
increase to effectively meet the forecasted demand.

24
References
 Diannah Lowry & Simon Molloy & Yan Tan 2006. Staffing the
supercycle: labor force outlook in the minerals sector, 2005 to 2015,
National Institute of Labor Studies

 Fundacion Chile, ¨Labor Force in the Chile Mining Industry, Diagnostic

and Recommendations, 2011-2020”

Closing the Skill Gaps and Labor Shortages: 25

A Priority for Mining Companies and the Chilean Government
 Section 2

University Training
The Impact of the Bologna Model on
Mineral Processing Education: Good, Bad
or Indifferent

Robin J Batterham
Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
The University of Melbourne, Australia

Introduction
The Bologna Process started in 1999 with a declaration signed by ministers
from mostly the European countries. Contrary to the belief, the Process
was not an EU Commission or EU Parliament initiative, it had stemmed
from the countries themselves who noted the competitiveness of European
universities falling behind that of the United States of America (Charlier
and Croché 2008). As of 2012, the Bologna Process has 47 participating
countries (EHEA 2012).

The purpose of the Process was to create a more open and uniform
system and to allow movement of students between countries. It was
expected that this would lead to more employability of graduates and a
more competitive Europe.

Alexandre et al. (2008) point to the reasons it as to why moving to the

Anglo-Saxon three tier system of Bachelors, Masters and PhD would be
an improvement over the analogous continental system: graduates would
enter the work force earlier, less damage from a poor first choice and more
flexible progression, etc.

The need for common quality standards was always envisaged as part
of the process but this aspect still requires much work (Charlier and
Croché 2008). There is currently considerable criticism of the variability
of standards, for example the same unit taught in one country might be

The Impact of the Bologna Model on Mineral Processing 29

Education: Good, Bad or Indifferent
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

taught in far fewer contact hours. The realities are however that this is
a minor point compared with the way higher education is changing as
modernization of both content and learning proceeds (Caddick 2008).
The days of staff/student ratios of 5.9 (in Hungary in 1990) are long gone
(Pusztai and Szabó 2008).

Progress with the Bologna Process

It is clear that much progress has happened (Huisman and Van der Wende
2004) and continues but with significant challenges in some countries,
see for example the progress report on Germany by Wex (2007). What
is clear however is that the benefits are starting to be seen (for example,
see Particio 2010).

Most importantly, there is ample evidence that students prefer Bologna

Process degrees with their greater flexibility and shorter times to reach a
first qualification (Portela et al. 2009). Despite the student preference for
the Bologna Process degrees at this stage in some countries (for example,
Germany), the international mobility of students was slow to increase
(Finger 2007) and still remains low in some countries (Schomburg and
Teissler 2011).

What is clear to date is that many benefits have been realized from the
Bologna Process and that students in particular prefer the greater flexibility.
This is also the anecdotal evidence of this from outside of Europe, for
example Australia, where Melbourne University has adopted a similar
scheme and others (for example, University of West Australia) are now
following. As in Latin America and Turkey, such major changes do not
come without challenges that must be overcome (Vukasovic 2011).

Impact on Mineral Processing

A survey was undertaken amongst members of the International Mineral
Processing Council’s Commission on Education (IMPC 2012). A letter was
circulated inviting comments on how education has changed, particularly
in light of the Bologna Process. There were 20 responses ranging from

30
summary points to several pages. The responses are available at (Mitchell
2012) and represent an excellent summary of mineral processing education
in a wide range of countries.

What is clear from the responses is as Finch (2003) also noted at the
XXII IMPC, that “developed countries are in the midst of re-structuring
education in minerals-related disciplines”. This was much in response to
falling numbers for 10–15 years and the need to diversify courses to make
them more attractive to students. Results in Canada and Australia reflect
this trend. To this extent then, many countries that are not in fact part of the
Bologna Process are indeed following the model or already had a system
of bachelor, master and PhD degrees and hence notice no difference.

Similarly, countries that have changed to the Bologna model, for example,
Sweden and Hungary, find little difference as they were already into five
year courses and at one level have merely changed from a 2+3 to a 3+2
year system.

The recent strong growth in the industry has highlighted the shortage of
mineral processing engineers and other professionals for the mining industry.
Pallson (2006), who also responded to the survey, noted prophetically that
in changing the mineral processing course to attract more students, the
changes were effective (as in Canada), but that a major problem remains that
the production and recruitment of graduates are out of sync.

One response to the out of sync demand for engineers for the industry
has been the introduction of graduate training programs, either in the
University as a master’s degree or in some cases, largely on the job,
like the part time MBA courses that have been popular for many years.
Certainly at Melbourne University one finds that some of the specialist
master’s courses are heavily oversubscribed and have no difficulty in
attracting full fee paying students.

From the survey we can then conclude that in many countries, the fall off in
demand for places has driven universities to make more flexible offerings
in much the same way as what is happening as a result of the Bologna

The Impact of the Bologna Model on Mineral Processing 31

Education: Good, Bad or Indifferent
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Process. Consequently, we can comment that while the roll out of the
Bologna Process is seen in higher education circles as a very significant
change, for mineral processing, falling student numbers over many
years forced changes which just happen to fit broadly with the Bologna
Process.

Conclusions
Overall, the Bologna Process has demonstrably changed higher education
in many countries to allow for considerably more flexibility in course
offerings.

The falling demand for places in mineral processing courses over many
years however has driven changes that would have happened in any
case. They are co-incident with what one is seeing in the Bologna Process
in other disciplines.

Finally, while student interest has picked up in many countries, the

current shortages seen in many countries (for example, Australia, China
and Canada) remind us that the industry demand and the production of
graduates have long been out of sync.

32
References
 Alexandre, F, Cardoso, AR, Portela M, and Sá, C,2008. Implementing
the Bologna process, VOX. Available from:http://www.voxeu.org/
article/implementing-bologna-process-do-students-support-shorter-
first-degree

 Caddick, S, 2008. Back to Bologna: the long road to European higher

education reform, EMBO reports, 9(1): 18-21

 Charlier, J-E, and Croché, S, 2012.The Bologna Process: the outcome

of competition between Europe and the United States and a stimulus
to this competition, European Education, 39(4): 10-26

 European Higher Education Area (EHEA), 2012. Bologna Process:

European Higher Education Area, Available from: http://www.ehea.
info/members.aspx

 Finch, JA, 2003. Future of mineral processing education, Proceedings

XXII International Mineral Processing Congress, 29 September – 3
October, Cape Town, South Africa, pp 14-22

 Finger, C, 2011. The social selectivity of international mobility among

German university students: A multi-level analysis of the impact of the
Bologna process, Discussion Papers, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin
fürSozialforschung (WZB), Forchungsschwerpunkt Building, Arbeit
und Lebenschancen, AbteilungAusbildung und Arbeitsmarkt, No. SP I
2011-503, http:hdl.handle.net/10419/56619

 Huisman, J, and Van der Wende, M, 2004. The EU and Bologna:

are supra- and international initiatives threatening domestic
agendas?,European Journal of Education, 39(3): 349-357

 International Mineral Processing Council (IMPC), 2012.

Available from:http://impc-council.com/?page_id=36

The Impact of the Bologna Model on Mineral Processing 33

Education: Good, Bad or Indifferent
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

 Mitchell, E, (2012). The Bologna Process: IMPC Member

comments. Available from: http://people.eng.unimelb.edu.au/emmarm/
IMPCMemberComments.zip

 Palsson, BI, 2006. Implementing the Bologna Process at LTU. A tool

for flexibility. Paper presented at a conference in Mineral Processing
7-8 Feb, 2006, Lulea

 Patrício, M, and Harden, RM, 2010. The Bologna Process –

A global vision for the future of medical education, Medical Teacher,
32: 305-315

 Portela, M, Sá, C, Alexandre, F and Cardoso, AR, 2009. Perceptions

of the Bologna process: what do students’ choices reveal? Higher
Education, 58: 465-474

 Pusztai, G and Szabó, PC, 2008. The Bologna Process as a Trojan

horse: restructuring higher education in Hungary, European Education,
40(2): 85-103

 Schomburg, H and Teichler, U (Eds), 2011. Employability and

mobility of bachelor graduates in Europe: key results of the Bologna
Process, Sense Publishers, Rotterdam. Available from: https://www.
sensepublishers.com/files/9789460915703PR.pdf

 Vukasovic, M, 2011. 10 years of the Bologna Process – the state of

the art and way ahead? Higher Education Development Association,
University of Oslo.Available from:http://uv-net.uio.no/wpmu/
hedda/2011/01/24/10-years-of-the-bologna-process-–-the-state-of-
the-art-and-way-ahead/

 Wex, P, 2007. Time to stop beating around the bush: a German

perspective on national standards in the Bologna Process,
Perspectives: Policy and Practice in Higher Education, 11(3): 74-77

34
Appendix
Selected comments from a range of countries

These comments reflect directions from the submissions but do not cover
the depth and detail. The reader is referred to Mitchell (2012) for the wealth
of detail available in the submissions.

Australia
 After years of falling numbers, demand an increase in number
 More flexible course offerings but not as comprehensive

Belgium
 Relatively few students
 Bologna simply changed a 2+3 into a 3+2 offering

Brazil
 Course structure set by State, comprehensive
 MERCOSUL area introducing its own “Bologna”
 Academic themes of some PhDs seen as limiting

Bulgaria
 Steady (small) number of graduates
 No particular changes noted

Canada
 More flexible offerings now in place in response to years of low
numbers
 Still not clear if mineral processing is better in undergraduate or
masters level
 French Canada with emphasis on engagement/experience with industry

China
 Pressing demand for graduates
 Particular technological demands in China (for example, grade and
recovery)
 Further education needed to update knowledge of practitioners

The Impact of the Bologna Model on Mineral Processing 35

Education: Good, Bad or Indifferent
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Greece
 July 2011 directives will force changes, not clear as to extent
 Expect courses to shorten in line with Bologna

Hungary
 Mineral processing embedded in wider courses
 Implemented Bologna type system

India
 The industry not seen as attractive to students, hence low entrance
levels
 Recent improvement in student numbers
 Overhaul of course curricula seen as needed

Norway
 Still on a five year masters, but this is similar to Bologna 3+2
 Student numbers again increasing

Poland
 Implemented Bologna system
 Significant numbers of students and wide ranging curricula

Russia
 Several universities teaching mineral processing
 Generally negative view of the Bologna Process but greater exposure
of the students to industry seen as a benefit
Sweden
 Student numbers now increasing
 Still on a five year masters, but this is similar to Bologna 3+2

Turkey
 Mineral processing taught at masters level
 Strong demand for graduates

USA
 Traditional four year course still going strong
 Research funding harder to find so links between research and
teaching more tenuous

36
Status and Prospect of Chinese Mineral
Processing Education
Sun Chuanyao
Chinese Academy of Engineering, China State Key Laboratory of Mineral
Processing Technology, China

Han Long
Beijing General Research Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, Beijing,
China

Yin Wanzhong
Resource and Civil Engineering College, Northeast University, China

Introduction
This paper gives an overview of the status of mineral processing education
in China.

Figure 1: Percentage of 18-21 year old enrolled as

undergraduate students

30
26.9
25 23

20
15
15
9.76
10
3.7
5
1.55
0
1978 1988 1998 2002 2007 2011

Gross enrollment rate for HEI

Status and Prospect of Chinese Mineral Processing Education 37

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

First, the overall position of higher education is presented, including the

number of students, educators and higher education institutions. After briefly
introducing the history of mineral processing in China, the number of students
specifically in that discipline are shown, as well as aspects of the curriculum.

Finally, the vision for the future of education in China, as well as the
possible hurdles are outlined.

The Overall Higher Education Position in China

Figure 1 shows the percentage of 18 to 21 year olds in China that enroll
into Higher Education Institutions in China. It can be seen that this has
steadily increased from below 15% upto 2002 to currently almost 30%. This
translates to annual student numbers enrolling from 2.8 million in 2000 to
9.2 million in 2010. Chinese higher education has been transformed from
a period of elite education to the current period of popularization.

In China, all students wishing to gain entrance to higher education must

take and pass the National College Entry Exam (NCEE). Figure 2 shows
the number of students that take the NCEE, and Figure 3 the percentage
of students taking the NCEE that gain entry to higher education.

Figure 2: Number of students taking the NCEE

(Million)
12
10.1 10.5 10.2
10 9.5 9.57 9.33
8.77
8 7.29
6.13
6 5.1
4.54
3.75
4

0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Number of student taking NCEE

38
The continuous increase in enrollment before 2008 (figure 2) can be
attributed to an increase in the number of students taking the NCEE, with
a relatively steady percentage (~57%, figure 3) gaining admission to higher
education institutions. Since 2008 there has been a decrease in the number
of students taking the NCEE (from 10.5m in 2008 to 9.3m in 2011, figure
2) due to a decline in the annual Chinese birth rate (from 23.5m in 1990 to
15.9m in 2004) and a larger number of students choosing to study abroad.
This has been offset by an increase in the NCEE admission rate up to 72%
in 2011.

Figure 3: National college entry examination–percentage of

students gaining admission to higher education

80
72
69
70
63 62 61 62
59 59 57 57 57
60 56

50

40

30

20
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Admission rate of NCEE

Table 1 summarizes the overall position of universities and colleges in China,

and shows the significant changes that have taken place from 2000 to 2010.
Some key trends are highlighted in figures 4 and 5.

Figure 4 shows that the number of colleges and universities has more
than doubled, while the number of adult and private colleges has reduced
significantly. It is as a result of large scale expansion of public U&C since
1999 which squeezes the room for private U&C development.

Status and Prospect of Chinese Mineral Processing Education 39

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Table 1: The number of universities and colleges, faculty and full-

time teachers; 2000 and 2010
Items Number of Number of Faculty Number of
U&C Full-time Teachers
2000 2010 2000 2010 2000 2010
Universities 599 1112 757,944 1,548,043 370,838 935,493
Universities
College &

& Colleges
Junior 442 1246 162,099 603,201 86,640 404,098
Colleges
Total 1041 2358 920,043 2,151,244 457,478 1,339,59
Adult Colleges 772 365 179,652 77,108 93,402 45,887
Private 1282 836 56,501 38,140 29,515 17,794
Universities &
Colleges
Total 3095 3559 1,155,196 2,266,492 580,395 1,403,272

Figure 4: The number of higher education institutions of various

types in China, 2000 and 2010

2500 2358

2000

1500
1246 1282
1041
1000 836
772

500 442
365

0
U&C Junior college Adult college Private college

2000 2010

Figure 5 shows that there has been a commensurate and significant

increase in teaching staff. From 2000 to 2010, the number of faculty and
full-time teachers in colleges and universities has increased significantly.

40
Figure 5: The number of higher The number of faculty has more
education institutions than doubled, while the number
of various types in of full time teachers has been
China, 2000 and 2010 increased by more than 820,000.

Table 2 summarizes the number

2,500,000
of students in various types of
2,000,000 higher education in China in 2000
2,266,492

1,500,000
580,395
and 2010. Some key trends are
highlighted in figure 6.
1,403,272
1,000,000
1,115,196

500,000 The numbers of students in higher

0 education in Chinese colleges
Faculty Full time teachers
and universities has expanded
2000 2010 significantly in the last 10 years
(Figure 6). In 2010, the total

Figure 6: Annual student recruitment, graduates and total

enrollment in China, 2000 and 2010

30,000,000
29,210,733

25,000,000

20,000,000

15,000,000
6,979,037
2,846,838

10,000,000
1,337,213

9,239,987
8,110,718

5,000,000

0
Total graduates Total recruitment Total school enrollment

2000 2010

Status and Prospect of Chinese Mineral Processing Education 41

42
Table 2: The number of students in higher education in China in 2000 and 2010

Items Graduates Students recruited School enrollments

2000 2010 2000 2010 2000 2010

Post Graduate PhD 11,004 48,987 25,142 63,762 67,293 258,950

Education
Master 47,565 334,613 102,923 474,415 233,144 1,279,466

Sub-total 58,569 383,600 128,065 538,177 300,437 1,538,416

Regular Undergraduate 495,624 2,590,535 1,160,191 3,515,563 3,400,181 12,656,132

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Undergraduate
Education Junior college 454,143 3,163,710 1,045,881 3,104,988 2,160,719 9,661,797

Sub-total 949,767 5,754,245 2,206,072 6,617,551 5,560,900 22,317,929

Adult Undergraduate 212,71 8,039,15 37,053 853,319 88,686 2,250,457

Undergraduate
Education Junior College 307,606 1,168,958 475,648 1,230,940 1,029,014 3,109,931

Sub-total 328,877 1,972,873 512,701 2,084,259 1,117,700 5,360,388

Total 1,337,213 8,110,718 2,846,838 9,239,987 6,979,037 29,216,733

number of graduate was more than eight million, an increase of almost
65% since 2000. The annual recruitment was more than nine million
students, yielding a total student population of almost 30 million in the
year 2010.

Studying Abroad
From 1978 to 2011, 2.24 million Chinese went abroad to study. Since
1978, the total number of students returning has reached 818,400.

In 2011, the number of students leaving to study abroad was almost

340,000, with 186,000 returning in that year. By the end of 2011, the total
number of students travelling abroad to study was 1.4 million, of which
1.11 million are studying or doing research in foreign countries. Figure 7
shows that the numbers are increasing significantly in the past few years.

Figure 7: The number of students studying abroad and returning

to China
400

350 339.7

300 284.7

250 229.3

186.2
200 179.8

150 134.9
108.3
100
71.3

50

0
2008 2009 2010 2011

Study abroad Returnees

Status and Prospect of Chinese Mineral Processing Education 43

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Chinese Mineral Processing Education

History
Mineral processing education in China started in the 1920s at Peiyang
University. It was from here that such famous names as Professor Ni
Tongchai, the expert in gravity separation, graduated in 1924; and where
Professor Hu Xigeng, studied. Before 1949, there were many mineral
processing majors available from PeiYang University, NEU, Guangxi
University, the Jiaozhuo Institute of Technology, Tangshan University of
Communications, amongst others.

After 1949, the first mineral processing subject was set up in Shengyang
Institute of Technology, which merged with NEU in 1950. In 1952, the
Central South Institute of Mining & Metallurgy (now CSU) and CUMT
established the mineral processing discipline.

In the Chinese Higher Education System there are clearly defined Discipline
Categories (figure 8), of which Mining is an Engineering discipline, with
mineral processing as a distinct sub-discipline.

Figure 8: Discipline categories in the Chinese higher education

system
Management
Engineering
Philosophy

Economics

Agriculture
Education

Literature

Medicine
Science

31(169)
History

12(36)

11(44)
4(17)

6(32)

2(16)

3(76)

7(27)

5(33)
9(46)
Law
1(4)

1(6)

Art

Mining

Mineral Processing

Mining Engineering

Petroleum Engineering

Oil & Gas Storage and

Transportation Engineering

44
Chinese Mineral Processing Education –
Universities and Colleges
As a sub-discipline under mining engineering, mineral processing discipline
is now established in 33 Chinese universities and colleges.

The mineral processing discipline recruits around 2600 undergraduate

students, 540 postgraduate students and 100 PhD students each year.
There are more than 400 teachers dedicated specifically to mineral
processing higher education, including more than 100 professors. The
number of students studying mineral processing in China is the highest
in the world.

Chinese Mineral Processing Education –

Graduate Employment
Every year around 3000 mineral processing graduates join the industry or
one of the various education and research institutions. As shown in table
3, these graduates are highly sought-after, and since 2007 more than 95%
of graduates find employment in this field.

The breakdown of destinations of graduates is as follows:

 Further education both in China and overseas (~20%)
 Related industry, i.e. Mining and Processing plant operations,
equipment /reagent manufacturers (~60%)
 Universities and Colleges, Research and Engineering
Institutes (~15%)
 Investment related companies (4%)
 Others (1%)

The average monthly salary for half year is approximately 3300 yuan
(US$ 530).

Status and Prospect of Chinese Mineral Processing Education 45

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Table 3: Employment rate for mineral processing graduates

Year 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011

Employment ≥85% ≥90% ≥90% ≥95% ≥95% ≥95% ≥95% ≥95%
rate for mineral
processing
graduates

Chinese Mineral Processing Education –

Problems and Challenges
Chinese mineral processing education suffers many similar challenges to
those in other countries. Some of these include:
 The continued gap between the supply of qualified graduates and the
demands of industry
 The attraction of mineral processing as an occupation attraction to
graduates
 The flaws in the design of the teaching system; for example in the
course design only 120 to 150 class hours are dedicated to covering
the mineral processing text book
 Skill training imbalances between different colleges (teaching facilities
and teachers)
 A low level of international orientation

The Future
The 12th Chinese “Five Year Plan” for Higher Education development has
the following objectives:
 To have 33.5 million people receiving higher education in 2015;
 Number of students in U&C up to 30.8 million students, including 1.7
million post graduates;
 A gross higher education enrollment rate that increases from 26.5% in
2010 to 36% in 2015, and 40% in 2020;

46
 The number of people who received higher education will increase
from 119.64 million in 2010 to 150 million in 2015.

Key factors that may affect achievement of these goals are the continued
growth of the Chinese economy, as well as industrialization, and
urbanization in coming years.

However, it appears that with China leading the number of graduates in

mineral processing worldwide, we have a promising future for Chinese
mineral processing education.

Data Sources
 Official website of China Ministry of Education (http://www.moe.gov.cn/)
 Yang Dongping, Social Sciences Academic Press (China), Annual
Report on Chinese Education (2012)
 Mycos DATA, Social Sciences Academic Press (China), Chinese
College Graduates Employment Annual Report (2012)

Status and Prospect of Chinese Mineral Processing Education 47

Manpower Development and Training in
Mineral Engineering in India

R Venugopal
Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, India

Abstract
The paper reviews the development of Mineral Engineering education and
training programs in India. It highlights the major academic programs and
describes the evolution of the curriculum and design of courses in response
to the changing requirements of India’s mineral and coal industries.

An outline of the efforts needed to sustain and further improve the existing
programs is also provided.

Introduction
Mineral Engineering education in India has experienced constant and
consistent change over the last century in order to keep pace with change
in the mineral industry’s policies and requirements.

In its early years, the Indian mining and metallurgical industry was dealing
with mineral ores that needed only marginal improvement in grade prior to
marketing or other utilization.

As ore grades decreased and mineral upgrading became more important

there was a need to design new academic programs at diploma, degree
and postgraduate levels. Those programs and the skills they developed
became the basis for curriculum and manpower development in India
throughout the 20th century.

Manpower Development and Training in Mineral Engineering in India 49

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Phases of Manpower Development

1. Phase I
The first phase of manpower development was structured around basic
mechanical operations, geology, and material handling.

This phase of development produced the pioneering academic program

of MSc (Ore dressing) at Andhra University, Waltair (now Vishakapatnam)
for graduates in Chemical Engineering and post-graduates in Geology.
This innovative program produced a pool of human resource who went
on to become scientists, engineers and academicians of national and
international acclaim.

2. Phase II
This pioneering effort inspired some of the leading engineering/research
institutions to conceive programs at post-graduate level. Many MTech/MS
level programs were conceptualized and launched by the Indian Institute
of Technology (IIT) at Kanpur, Bombay, Madras and Indian Institute of
Science (IISc) at Bangalore.

The IIT programs were specialized courses designed to provide basic

engineering and process knowledge relevant to the mineral processing
discipline, and added to the existing skills of engineering graduates and
science post-graduates. The students of these courses had the scope and
opportunity to venture into doctoral programs in mineral processing and
later move on to teaching and or research careers. Many made significant
contributions to knowledge of grinding, froth flotation, coal preparation,
pelletization, modelling and simulation.

The MSc Engineering program in Metallurgy at Indian Institute of Science

(IISc) was novel in that it opened up a new area of study in mineral
processing, namely bio-hydrometallurgy and bio-mineral processing. The
course combined process metallurgy and biotechnology and resulted in
tremendous growth and visibility in this area of study and research.

50
During the same period, two major developments took place, which raised
the manpower development efforts to new heights. A three year Master
of Applied Sciences (MASc) post-graduate course in mineral processing
and a three year Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree course in mineral
processing were created.

The MASc program was launched by Karnatak University in 1975 at the

post-graduate Center, Nandihalli. Thus the first authentic course with
mineral processing as the main subject became a reality in India. The
location of the center in the midst of scenic beauty on the hills and near
the mining town of Deogiri/Sandur gave the students first-hand exposure
to the ambience and challenges of mining and mineral processing.

Students with a three year degree in Science – Physics, Chemistry, Maths

and Geology – were admitted to the course. Besides basic sciences,
skills in basic mechanical and electrical engineering, mineral processing
unit operations, mining methods, material handling and metallurgy were
imparted to the students.

The second and final year students were taken to mines and processing
plants for practical training and industrial visits. Final year project
dissertations required identification of a genuine plant problem and
providing solutions to them. Students of this particular program now occupy
most of the technical manpower positions in mineral and coal processing
plants, research laboratories and academic institutions in India.

The BSc program in mineral processing at Garividi in Andhra Pradesh

was a welcome initiative of M/S FACOR Limited. Students of this program
graduated with knowledge of basic sciences, basic geology and material
handling and mineral processing unit operations. Graduates of this
program who obtained MTech or PhD qualifications have risen to the top
positions in many leading industrial R&D establishments in India including
TATA steel R&D, NMDC and SAIL and internationally, at Arcelor, Mittal and
Roche Mining.

Manpower Development and Training in Mineral Engineering in India 51

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

3. Phase III
The drive for the third phase in manpower development in Mineral
Engineering was provided by the vision and dynamism of Professor GS
Marwaha, the then Director of Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad.

3.1 Post Graduate Diploma in Mineral Engineering

A novel, 1½ year DISM in Mineral Engineering program was started in
1975. The program, besides admitting fresh graduates, also admitted
practicing enigneers from the industry as sponsored candidates.

The DISM program involved one year of course work and six months of
project work. The fresh graduates were assigned projects of relevance
to the coal and mineral industries while the sponsored candidates were
encouraged to take authentic problems in their plants and carry out
their project at the plant site itself. Such an arrangement provided real
benefits to industry, with a steady stream of working engineers going
through the program. The interaction between the fresh graduates and
the sponsored practicing engineers resulted in a healthy exchange of
theory and practice that benefited the students, department, institution
and especially the industry. The outcomes of projects were practical and
provided improvements in yield or recovery and grade of clean coal or
mineral concentrate.

3.2 MTech (by Research) in Mineral Engineering

The second step was the introduction of another unique program – M.Tech
(by Research) where working engineers can register for the program and
pursue their studies without needing to relocate. The number of subjects
was decided by the Indian School of Mines Department based on the work
experience and the candidate’s selected topic of research. This program
also provided unique opportunities for interaction between the institute
and industry.

3.3 BTech in Mineral Engineering

The third and most important step was the proposal of a project to
Ministry of Mines, Government of India on “Manpower Training in Mineral
Engineering”. After a series of evaluations of the proposal, inspection by the

52
Institute and feedback from the user industries, the project was approved
for five years, with a grant-in-aid out of ` 429 lakhs (42.9 million).

The proposal envisaged a three-pronged approach towards manpower

development and training.
a) Four year BTech Program; for freshers in Mineral Engineering
b) Three year BTech Program; Lateral entry to BSc graduates in Mineral
Engineering and Diploma holders
c) One year Advanced Diploma; for working BSc gradates in Mineral
Engineering and Diploma holders

In 1984, the three programs became a reality and are still going strong.
The systemic approach to the development of curriculum encompassing
mineral and coal beneficiation subjects, material handling, maintenance
engineering and environmental and management aspects of plant
operations, provided a source of well-rounded graduates to address the
needs of industry.

The graduates and students of these programs have proved themselves in

industries, universities and research establishments in India and abroad.
The steady flow of research internships from the universities abroad
including British Columbia, Utah, New South Wales, Queensland and
the Camborne School of Mines, testify the quality of the students and the
program. Other graduates of this program have been gainfully employed
in the coal, ferrous, non-ferrous and industrial minerals industries.

Early efforts in manpower development attempted to add to existing engineering

and science qualifications. This approach was found to be inadequate due to
the increasing need for specialist skills, and was not supported by graduates
of other disciplines such as chemical, mechanical or material engineering.
Programs needed to be autonomous in order to be successful.

Recent Efforts in Manpower Development

The Council of Scientific and industrial Research (CSIR), a premier science
and technology body under the GoI Ministry of Science and Technology

Manpower Development and Training in Mineral Engineering in India 53

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

has embarked upon an initiative whereby laboratories are encouraged

to offer academic and research programs to develop manpower in their
domain areas, in order to cater to the manpower needs in the research
laboratories and the user industries.

The CSIR laboratories – Institute of Minerals & Material Technology,

Central Institute of Mining and Fuel Research have launched programs
in mineral processing and Coal Preparation respectively, and a few more
laboratories are contemplating similar initiatives.

Agenda and Action Plan

4. The agenda
Despite the many developments and improvements made in the past, Mineral
engineering as a discipline and mineral engineering professionals do not
enjoy the status and position that they deserve. Though there is an increasing
awareness of the need for, and relevance and importance of the discipline, its
status as an independent field of engineering is yet to be fully realized.

This is due to the continuous reluctance of the industry to raise the discipline
from an auxiliary activity to an independent and integral activity in the
overall mineral resource development. Mineral engineering professionals
are placed under the mining, metallurgical, mechanical or chemical
cadres of human resource which limits professional development. A few
coal and mineral industries have realized this and created a cadre of coal
preparation and mineral processing, but this needs to be more broadly
implemented to have a significant effect.

The agenda for the next few decades should be to strengthen the existing
manpower development efforts and to formulate strategies to enhance the
position and prestige of the Mineral Engineering profession. This requires
a well thought out action plan and implementation strategy.

5. The action plan

The recommended course of action should be developed with involvement
of all the stakeholders who are in the profession of Mineral Engineering.

54
A few mechanisms are suggested:
(i) Effective networking of all the institutions offering academic programs
in Mineral Engineering.
(ii) Encouraging interaction between the students of different institutions.
• The institutions offering academic programs in Mineral Engineering
should meet periodically to exchange information about
developments in different sectors of the Indian mineral industry.
• Regular student conventions (two-three per year) could be
organized in mineral rich regions. This will provide an avenue for
exchange of knowledge and practical experience for students.
• A students’ data base and group e-mail could be created for regular
exchange of information.
(iii) A strong collaborative approach to activities relevant to the industry by
the faculties of these institutions.
(iv) Developing linkages between industry and institutions on a regional
basis, and transfer of knowledge, expertise and experience of specialist
staff of institutions to the benefit of the industries.
(v) Organized training programs and research programs to encourage
interaction between students, faculty and industry.
• This interaction would enable a regular, critical review by industry
of curriculum to cater to the changing needs of the industries.
• Industry-specific discussion, meetings and workshops at plant
sites to inform plant operators and management of the latest
technology developments and also provide a platform for the plant
personnel to highlight their performance and present operational
problems.
• Regular meetings between academics, researchers and industry
executives to formulate research programs that are relevant to
the industries. This would build stronger relationships between
researchers and practitioners.

Manpower Development and Training in Mineral Engineering in India 55

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Role of Professional Bodies (IIME)

Indian Institute of Mineral Engineers (IIME) could play a pivotal role in fulfilling
this agenda and action plan, since its members are all stakeholders.
a) Comprehensive goals should be set with immediate and long-term
targets identified.
b) A core team consisting of members from the academic, research and
industrial establishments should be formed.
c) Periodic review meetings need to be held for monitoring, evaluation
and mid-course correction as required.

TOGETHER WE CAN, WE SHOULD AND WE WILL

56
 Section 3

University-Industry
Supported Training
Mineral Industry Education and Training
Trends in North America: Challenges,
Opportunities and a Framework for the
Future
Brij M Moudgil
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
Center for Particulate and Surfactant Systems (CPaSS)
University of Florida, Gainesville, USA

Ray Farinato and D R Nagaraj

Cytec Inc.
Stamford, Connecticut, USA

Abstract
This paper discusses current workforce demand projections for mineral
processing enigneers and emerging trends in mineral processing
education. Attempts are made to identify gaps that often result in a
mismatch between skills taught and skills needed by the practicing
engineer. Clear examples of this include a less than uniform training in
chemical aspects of mineral processing, and an understanding of the
statistical and experimental design tools necessary to tame the often
large variation in operational parameters and plant data. The end goal
is an educational system modernized to prepare mineral processing
specialists for productive careers in the sustainable development of
natural resources. A framework for revamping education based on an
integrated modular approach is also presented.

Mineral Industry Education and Training Trends in North America: 59

Challenges, Opportunities and a Framework for the Future
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Introduction
This paper highlights challenges and opportunities and a framework for
the future for mineral processing training and trends in North America.
The possible scenarios of educational systems for training mineral
processing engineers for careers in sustainable development of natural
resources have been discussed. The current status, gaps in skills required
by the employers and the education systems, and how they can be met
have also been presented in this paper. In preparing for this paper and
for the presentation at the 2012 IMPC, in addition to authors’ collective
experience of several decades, opinions from a number of mining and
mineral processing departments, program heads and companies in the
USA, as well as from industry forums (Kral, 2006) were collected. The
thoughts expressed in this paper are those of the authors and we have
made an attempt to capture the spirit of those comments and opinions we
received, which are not necessarily complete.

Role of Mineral and Coal Industry in the US

Economy
The mining and mineral industry workforce1 in the USA amounts to less than
0.25% of the total workforce, yet its value-added contributions are reported
to be 13-14% of the roughly 14.5 trillion dollar US economy. According to US
Energy Information Agency projections, the mining and minerals industry
sector will continue to grow over the next decade requiring an additional
skilled workforce. The consumption of minerals in the US (see Figure 1)
and North America, and around the world, will continue to increase. In
the US alone, every woman, man and child on the average consumes
about 23 tons of natural resources and raw materials each year (Brandon,
2012). In other words, we need about 700 million dump truck loads of raw
materials each year to sustain the current living standard. The population
in the US and worldwide is increasing and the standard of living is on the

1
Mine Safety and Health Administration definition of mining labor force: “To be included in the head count for a
mine, an individual has to work in the benefaction process within the mine footprint. This includes contractors
and mine employees; basically, anyone at risk from the benefaction process.” (Brandon, 2012)

60
Figure 1: Change in U.S. consumption of minerals (x1B Tons)
over time

7200
y=0.0635x - 120.33
7000
R2=0.7704
6800

6600

6400

6200

6000
1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008
Actual Consumption (Tons x1B) Over Time
Linear (Actual Consumption (Tons x1B) Over Time)
Every man, woman, and child in U.S. consumes, on average, somewhere between 2
and 2.25 dump truck loads of raw material each year (on average, 22.8 tons)

Source: Brandon, 2012

rise in developing countries. As a result, more and more raw materials are
going to be required. Under these circumstances, the importance of the
mineral industry and coal industry cannot be overemphasized.

The US is more than 50% dependent on imports for a majority of

its non-fuel mineral materials as noted by the US Geological Survey in
the 2010 Mineral Commodities Summary. The competition for natural
resources is going to be increasingly more acute and any trend towards
mineral resource nationalism can be highly disruptive for critically needed
minerals and metals. Recent example of changes in the rare earths supply
coming from China are indicative of what could happen if similar practices
are adopted by suppliers of other imported minerals. Given the importance
of the mineral industry to the U.S. economy and its long term sustainability,
the current situation where there is an insufficient number of qualified
personnel creates a strategic difficulty for the U.S., which requires a
well-trained workforce to power the mineral industry.

Mineral Industry Education and Training Trends in North America: 61

Challenges, Opportunities and a Framework for the Future
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Demand for Mineral Industry Workforce in North

America
Is the US ready to rejuvenate its mining industry to meet the domestic
and global demand for strategic raw materials? In the next 10 to 15 years,
will the US more readily embrace domestic mining? Our answer to these
questions is cautiously affirmative. If so, will there be a readily available
well-trained work force? The answer to this query is much less certain.
Although the demand for mineral and coal processing engineers remains
healthy, the number of schools and graduating engineers over the last
several decades has shrunk considerably2. Additionally, retiring faculty
have not been replaced in a number of schools that still continue to train
mineral processing engineers, except for those schools that are solely
focused on programs closely tied to the mineral processing industry.

Some of the increased demand for minerals processing personnel is being

met by attracting mineral processing engineers from other parts of the world
to the USA for example from Canada, Australia, Latin America and South
America. However, there also seems to be some competition from other
countries to attract qualified professionals from the USA (see Figure 2).

Another short term solution has been to recruit engineers from other
disciplines, such as chemical or even electrical engineering and train them
to work in mineral processing plants. Often such strategies meet short
term needs but these strategies are perceived to be not healthy in the long
run because the depth and breadth of training of re-purposed engineers
is quite often not as desirable as traditionally trained mineral processing
engineers.

Updating and learning new skills is becoming the norm rather than the
exception. For example skilled engineers or scientists may undergo training
in order to keep pace with developments in technology and practices
in the mining and mineral processing sector. This inevitably requires a

2
In 2004 there were fewer than 15 minerals-related programs which accounted for only 87 engineers. In
1980 there were 22 programs that graduated 570 engineers [Kral, 2006].

62
Figure 2: Internal and external drivers: U.S. Mine Workforce

Skilled Unskilled
Mine Labor U.S. Mines Labor
(Scarce) (Available)

Canada U.S. Mining Australia

Mines Workforce Mines

Managenet Mines Foreign Mine

Labor in Other Labor (May be
(Scarce) Countries Available)

(Source: Brandon 2012)

philosophy of lifelong learning for both the individual and the organization.
However, even if a strong demand exists, universities find it difficult to
justify creating or expanding their mineral engineering education capacity
due to budget constraints, inadequate industry support and the drain on
resources by other high-profile disciplines such as bio-related fields. Thus
it is very difficult for any university to make a business case for creating or
reviving mineral processing programs even though there may be a strong
demand for well qualified professionals, unless there is a strong mandate
or support directly from government or industry.

Current Status of Mineral Processing Training

We recognize that university-industry cooperation has been on the rise
for the last several decades; however, this cooperation targets research,
but does not help education. Moreover governmental funding agencies
promote research cooperation among universities, but for the most part

Mineral Industry Education and Training Trends in North America: 63

Challenges, Opportunities and a Framework for the Future
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

they do not promote educational cooperation to the same extent, at least

in the United States. We believe that in Europe and other parts of the world
the situation is different.

At the undergraduate level in the USA and Canada, the traditional four-year
accredited programs remain the norm, in contrast to attempts in Europe
and Australia where the Bologna model (European Commission, 2013)
(a distributed education model) of higher education is being evaluated and
implemented (McDivitt, 2002). Additionally there are no major attempts
foreseen in North America to develop university consortia for teaching
mineral processing courses where students rotate among participating
universities to complete their degree programs3. This model has been
successfully implemented by some European universities and alleviates
the need for each university to maintain its own base of faculty expertise
in all the required courses.

Alignment of skills demanded by the industry and the training provided

by the universities varies among programs. Comments from the industry
practitioners indicate that not all training programs are well aligned with
what the industry is looking for. There is a broad range of subjects required
to produce highly competent mineral processing engineers with a sufficient
foundation to respond to the current and future challenges to support a
sustainable industry. It requires marshaling a range of talents rarely found
within a single department or university.

At the post graduate level, we have MS courses often without a thesis

and PhD courses requiring a thesis. Not all schools train their mineral
processing engineers with the same depth and breadth. A case in point is
training in the chemical aspects4 of mineral processing, statistical design
tools, etc. In some schools one particular aspect is emphasized more than
others, but in general practitioners indicate a lack of in-depth knowledge
of chemical aspects of mineral processing education. It seems that the

3
Accreditation by ABET in such a scenario might be difficult
4
Aquatic mineral chemistry, high temperature inorganic chemistry, mineral and reagent surface chemistry,
reagent design, etc.

64
pace of change in academic educational focus can sometimes be out of
step with the needs of traditional industries such as mineral processing.
There needs to be a realignment of the education strategy with the needs
of a modern, sustainable and economically healthy mineral processing
industry in the U.S.

Famework for Future Training of Mineral

Processing Engineers
One option is to establish a cooperative education program that
is based in the university but includes industry in designing and
delivery of the curriculum. Industrial partner involvement beyond the
occasional review of sponsored program work would go a long way
towards making the education more relevant and effective. Ways to
improve industrial partner involvement include not only acting on
industry advisory teams, providing scholarships and endowing faculty
posts, but also participating as visiting professors and running student
internship programs (McDivitt, 2002). Moreover this approach can
involve a number of universities so that no single university has to have
a comprehensive education program in the mineral processing area.
Another option is to design a 5 (3 + 2) year MS degree program (post-
high school) that requires one year apprenticeship or internship in a
company. This idea of an integrated combination of classroom work with
industrial experience is not new and should be reconsidered as a course
of action to ameliorate the gaps in our current educational programs5.
Such programs can provide valuable pathways for employees’ future
professional development. These programs also allow students to
acquire business and/or finance skills or some other special skill that
may supplement their education in minerals engineering.

5
C.W. Grate (1963): “Basically the cooperative plan is a supervized integration of classroom work with
periods of actual industrial experience, designed to broaden the knowledge and experience of the
participant. The employment constitutes an important phase of education of the student and must be
well planned in progressing order of difficulty of assignments and increases in pay, and must parallel as
closely as possible his progress through academic phases of his education.”

Mineral Industry Education and Training Trends in North America: 65

Challenges, Opportunities and a Framework for the Future
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Distance learning options that currently exist or are on the horizon

provide additional opportunities for a wide variety of people already in
the workforce. We should encourage and strengthen current content
providers, and solicit new sources in order to ensure an adequate supply
of well-trained mineral processing professionals. Another suggestion is
that since there is a shortage of faculty looming over the horizon, we
can fill that gap by recruiting professors of practice from industry. It not
only strengthens practical aspects of the training, but can also provide
valuable guidance and much needed help on the curriculum side. This
can also reduce the gap between skills needed by the industry and
those provided at the universities. Similarly, the industry can create a
flexible environment wherein faculty members may spend meaningful
time in the industry to educate and learn. A close collaboration between
industry and university will also help in modernizing traditional curricula
developed many decades ago.

Role of Professional Societies such as SME in

Mineral Processing Workforce Training
Professional organizations such as the Society for Mining and Metallurgy
Exploration, Inc. (SME) can act as a hub for knowledge repository and
for providing accreditation assistance to programs, especially when
that program is run among a number of cooperating universities. An
example of this was the synergistic role of the Canadian Institute of
Mining, Metallurgy and Petroleum (CIM) and EduMine6 in developing
a certificate program in Mining Studies with the University of British
Columbia (Scoble, 2005).

Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge Cytec Inc., Center for Particulate and Surfactant
Systems (CPaSS) and the CPaSS industrial partners, Particle Engineering
Research Center, and the National Science Foundation (NSF Grant # IIP-
0749481) for partial financial assistance.

6
The professional development division of InfoMine Inc.

66
References
 Brandon, III, C.N. 2012. “Emerging Workforce Trends in the U.S.
Mining Industry”
 European Commission, 2013, http://ec.europa.eu/education/higher-
education/bologna_en.htm
 Grate, C.W. 1963. “Cooperative Education in Mineral Engineering”
AIME Preprint No. 63J16
 Kral, S. 2006. “SME Leadership Forum addresses shortage of mining
professionals”, Mining Engineering, Oct. 2006, pp.30-33
 McDivitt, J. 2002. “Status of Education of Mining Industry Professionals”,
International Institute for Environment and Development (Mining,
Minerals and Sustainable Development project) Report No. 38
 Scoble, M. 2005. “A Collaborative Role for a Mining School: Lifelong
Learning in the Mining Industry” SME Preprint 05-120

Mineral Industry Education and Training Trends in North America: 67

Challenges, Opportunities and a Framework for the Future
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

68
Skills Gap for the Minerals Industry -
A Case for Zambia

Jewette Masinja and Stephen Simukanga

University of Zambia, Zambia

Abstract
The mining industry is known to be a potential major contributor to
the industrial development of any economy. Large scale mining has
been going on in Zambia for the last 100 years. The impact of mining in
Zambia has been to create a development corridor along the line of rail
to the Copperbelt Province, where hitherto, mining was concentrated,
and then to develop a large consolidated high density economic zone
covering an area of about 72 km by 60km. This area is home to a
number of very large integrated copper/cobalt mining complexes. The
mining zone has expanded to the Northwestern Province in the last
10 years, where the largest copper mine in Africa now exists, having
produced about 300 000 tonnes of copper in 2011. The total output of
the Zambian mining industry is now about 820,000 tonnes per annum
with projections of reaching 1.5 million by 2015, due to new Greenfield
investments expected to come online by then. These new mining industry
developments have come on the back of strong and sustained high
base metal prices, in the last 10 years or so, due to demand mainly from
China and India. This new lease of life has increased the contribution of
the sector to the national treasury.

The mining industry in Zambia has undergone a very important ownership

restructuring with the sale of the previously Government owned parastatal,
Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) which dominated the sector,
to allow for private sector participation. The privatization process lasted
from about 1995 to about 2002.

Skills Gap for the Minerals Industry- 69

A Case for Zambia
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

The recent growth of the mining sector has unfortunately not been
matched by an adequate supply of skilled manpower for various reasons.
These include:
(i) A lack of strong in-house training strategies by the new mine owners;
(ii) Decrease in industry support to the training institutions;
(iii) The demise of and restructuring of ZCCM which has consequently
limited the Government human resources planning tools for the mining
sector;
(iv) The cyclic nature for the fortunes of the sector has lead to fluctuating
interest of student recruitment into training institutions;
(v) Limitations, both staff and equipment, in the training institutions; and
(vi) A re-structuring of the training institutions.

This paper examines the current status, and student output from tertiary
training institutions for the mining sector in Zambia. This is then compared
to the skilled labor demands of the sector. The various cause and effect
issues are considered and a proposal on how this skills gap could be
addressed sustainably is proposed.

Background
Zambia is well endowed with mineral resources, particularly with copper.
It is in fact estimated that Zambia hosts about 3.5% of the worlds copper
reserves as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Estimates of world copper reserves by country shares (%)

reserves between 1995 and 2008
Country 1995 2000 2005 2008
Chile 26.7 24.6 38.3 36
Peru 3.9 6.2 6.4 12
United States 14.8 13.8 7.4 7.0
China 1.3 5.7 6.7 6.3
Poland 5.9 5.5 5.1 4.8
Australia 3.8 3.5 4.6 4.3
Mexico 4.4 4.2 4.3 4.0

70
 Country 1995 2000 2005 2008
Indonesia 2.5 3.8 4.0 3.8
Zambia 5.6 5.2 3.7 3.5
Russia 4.9 4.6 3.2 3.0
Kazakhstan 3.3 3.1 2.1 2.2
Canada 3.8 3.5 2.1 2.0
Others 19.2 16.9 11.7 11.0
World Total 100 100 100 100
Source: Role of copper in the Chile and Zambian Economies (Global Development Network Series, June
2011).

The Zambian mining industry has enjoyed a resurgence in the last 10

years due to sustained demand for base metals (copper) mainly from
China and India. This demand has seen a steady rise in the world price
and a concomitant increase in output from the mining industry in Zambia
(Figures 1, 2 and Table 1).

Figure 1: Copper prices between January 1998 and October 2011

(After InfoMine.com)

Copper Price
3.81 USD/lb
23 Feb’12
5.5
5
4.5
Copper Price (USD/lb)

4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
Jan 2 Aug 9 Mar 16 Oct 21
1998 2002 2007 2011

Skills Gap for the Minerals Industry- 71

A Case for Zambia
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Figure 2: Copper production in Zambia between 2000 and 2010

900 Zambian Cu Production 2000-2010

820
800
694
700
Cu Production ‘000 t

600 555
514 520
500 447
427
400 341 348
312
300 249
200

100

0
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Source: US Geological Survey Minerals Yearbooks, 2007 and 2010

In line with these changes, the production capacity of the Zambian mining
industry has increased to its current levels, as illustrated in Tables 2 and 3.

Table 2: Zambian copper mines operations–capacity (1.1 million mt)

Mine Process 2007 Capacity 2011 Capacity
(Kt/y Cu) (Kt/y Cu)
Baluba Concentrates 25
Chambishi Concentrates 28
SX- EW 8
Chibuluma South Concentrates 18
Kansanshi Concentrates 160
SX-EW 164* 90
Konkola Concentrates 90
Lumwana Concentrates 160
Mufulira Concentrates 120
Mufulira and Nkana SX-EW 210** 100
Nampundwe Concentrates 1
Nchanga Concentrates 70
Nchanga TLP SX-EW 316*** 100

72
 Mine Process 2007 Capacity 2011 Capacity
(Kt/y Cu) (Kt/y Cu)
Nkana Slag Dumps/ SX-EW 25
Chambishi Cobalt Plant
Nkana South and Concentrates 120
Central Orebodies
Grand Total 690 1 115
Source: International Copper Study Group, Paper No 2, 2007, and 39 Regular Meeting, April 2012
th

*First Quantum (Kansanshi), ** Mopani Copper Mines Combined assets, *** Konkola Copper Mines
combined assets

Table 3: Zambian copper mines operating smelters and refineries

Smelter Process 2007 Capacity 2011 Capacity
(Kt/y Cu) (Kt/y Cu)
Nchanga Concentrates 250
Mufulira Concentrates 180 200
Chambishi Concentrates 150
Nkana Cobalt Plant Concentrates 20 20
Nkana Smelter Concentrates 150 Closed
Grand Total 350 620
Refinery Process 2011 Capacity
(Kt/y Cu)
Nkana (Kitwe) Electrolytic 180 300
Mufulira Electrolytic 265 265
Nchanga TLP Electrowining 100 100
Mufulira and Nkana Electrowining 100
(Combined)
Kansanshi Electrowining 80 90
Nkana slag Dumps Electrowining 25
Chambishi (SX-EW) Electrowining 8
Sable Zinc Electrowining 5
Grand Total 625 893
Source: International Copper Study Group, Paper No 2, 2007, and 39 Regular Meeting, April 2012
th

Skills Gap for the Minerals Industry- 73

A Case for Zambia
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

The current installed, and projected capacity of the Zambian mining

industry is given in Figure 3. The figure shows that the total installed
capacity is projected to increase by about 30% between 2012 and 2015
(International Copper Study Group, 39th Regular Meeting, April 2012).
This is a very significant increase by any standards, but it obviously
assumes continued world base metal (copper) demand over the period
and beyond.

The likely sources of this increase in Zambian mining production capacity

includes a new shaft being sunk at Nkana mine owned by Mopani Copper
Mines aimed at accessing a 115 million tonnes of copper ore by 2018.
This will also extend the mining operations life by 25 years, expansion
of the Nkana Cobalt plant from 2,800 tpa to 3,500 tpa cobalt by 2020
and a projected expansion of the Barrick Gold owned Lumwana mine
from 24 to 45 million tonnes per annum. Lumwana is also looking at
uranium processing to produce 2 million pounds uranium oxide per year
over a six to seven year period. Lumwana has a 358 million tonne at
0.76% Cu indicated resource, and with a 564 million tonne at 0.63% Cu
inferred resource (International Mining, 2011, Country Report-Zambia).
The Konkola North Project jointly owned by Vale and Rainbow Minerals
is currently developing a mine that has so far defined a 300 million tonne
resource at 2.57% total Cu with a life of 28 years and is expected to
reach full production in 2015. First Quantum Minerals intends to bring
Trident Mine on-line in 2014 with an initial copper output of 150 000
tonnes of contained copper with a possible increase to 300 000 tonnes
per annum at a later stage. Further, additional expansion production
works continue with existing operations including by such companies as
Konkola Copper Mines.

In support of these production expansions, the U.S. Geological Survey

observes that Zambia has reserves of 19 million metric tonnes of
contained copper, as well as a reserve base of 35 million metric tonnes
of contained copper. As such, it has been estimated that, even in the
absence of new discoveries, Zambia has sufficient reserves for at least

74
Figure 3: Current and projected mining, smelting and refinery
capacity in Zambia (2012- 2015)

Mine Smelter Refinery

1113
1035
‘000 t Cu

928 973
883 893 750
750
650
620 620 650

1735
1315 1484
1097 1115 1215

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Source: International Copper Study Group, 39th Regular Meeting, April 2012

another 60 years of production at current rates (International Copper

Study Group, Paper No 2, 2007).

Current Labor Status

On the back of the increase in copper production, data on direct employment
in the mining industry submitted to the Zambian Government through the
Ministry of Mines Energy and Water Development, has shown a steady
increase, going from about 28 000 persons in 2000 to about 59 000
persons in 2011, as illustrated below in Table 4, and Figure 4. Much as
the general trend is upwards over the whole period, the data shows the
vulnerability of the employment levels in the mining sector to fluctuation in
world prices, for example, the -29% decrease experienced in 2009 was as
a result of a dip in world copper prices (Figure 1), resulting from the onset
of a world recession.

Skills Gap for the Minerals Industry- 75

A Case for Zambia
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Table 4: Direct permanent employment levels in the Zambian mining

industry
(2000 and 2011)
No Year Number of % Change
Employees (year on year)
1 2000 28 050 -
2 2001 33 111 +18
3 2002 35 138 +6
4 2003 32 255 -8
5 2004 32 503 +1
6 2005 31 455 -3
7 2006 34 948 +11
8 2007 57 913 +66
9 2008 65 311 +13
10 2009 46 246 -29
11 2010 56 054 +21
12 2011 58 672 +5
Source: Ministry of Mines, Energy and water Development, Statutory Data, 2012

Figure 4: Total number of direct employees in the Zambian mining

industry (2000 - 2011)

70000
Total direct employees

60000

50000

40000

30000

20000

10000

0
2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Source: Ministry of Mines, 2012

76
Table 4 is a consolidated list of all permanent employees within the mining
sector as reported to the Mines Ministry between 2000 and 2011.

Status of Skilled Labor

It is informative to consider a recent Mines Safety Department report
(Hamukoma, 2011), that discusses the current status of the demand and
supply of skilled labor in the Zambian mining sector. The objective of the
paper was to determine the mismatch between the demand for and the
supply of skilled manpower in Zambia’s mining industry and estimate the
extent of such a skills gap. The report is based on responses to a survey
from 12 mining and associated companies operating in Zambia namely:
Lumwana Copper Mine, Kansanshi Copper Mine, Konkola Copper Mines,
Chibuluma Mine, Mopani Copper Mines, Luanshya Copper Mines, Albidon
Mine, Copperbelt Energy Corporation, Sandvik, Ndola lime, ZAMEFA and
a Lumwana based contractor.

The 12 companies that responded to the survey had a total of 32 515

workers out of whom 9,978 (31%) were skilled workers, including 1,636
(5%) graduates, 1,427 (4%) technologists, 970 (3%) technicians and 5,943
(18%) crafts persons (Table 5).

Table 5: Distribution of skilled employees by skill level and

discipline
Graduate Technologist Technician Craft Total
Certificate
Geology 62 4 2 - 68
Mining 210 146 237 802 1,395
Metallurgy 394 103 25 124 646
Engineering 396 241 493 4,273 5,403
Production 5 6 20 120 151
Management
Finance 126 96 57 30 309
including IT
Human 153 151 6 88 398
Resources

Skills Gap for the Minerals Industry- 77

A Case for Zambia
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Graduate Technologist Technician Craft Total

Certificate
Medical 88 479 33 203 803
Commercial/ 101 107 60 87 355
Supply
Safety 38 47 9 55 149
Health and
Environment
Risk mgt/ 11 15 8 82 116
Security
Administration/ 54 32 20 79 185
Legal
Total 1,638 1,427 970 5,943 9,978
Source: Hamukoma, 2011

Some 300 workers were expatriates mostly employed in technical and

managerial positions, while approximately one-fourth of all workers in
the workforce of the surveyed companies were indirectly hired from
manpower agencies. In the coming five years, the report estimated that
around 11,000 skilled workers would be needed to maintain the current
level of production. This means that for example, in 2012, an additional
400 skilled workers may be needed for the surveyed companies.
However, the reality is that the demand for skilled manpower maybe
higher due to the increase in new mines expected to come online in the
near future.

The eight mining companies that responded to the survey contributed

77.3% of the total revenue collected by the Zambia Revenue Authority
in 2009 (ZEITI Reconciliation report, 2012). However, their 32,515
employees represented only 58% of the total labor strength reported to
the Mines Ministry in 2010 (56,054). Assuming that these eight mining
companies are representative of the labor skills distribution of Zambian
mining companies then it is possible to project the distribution of the total
Zambian mining sector skilled labor force to be as given in Table 6.

78
Table 6: Projected distribution of skilled employees by skill level
and discipline based on 2011 mining houses labor strength

Craft
Graduate Technologist Technician Total
Certificate
Geology 107 7 3 - 117
Mining 362 252 409 1383 2405
Metallurgy 679 178 43 214 1114
Engineering 683 415 850 7367 9315
Production
9 10 34 207 260
Management
Finance
217 166 98 52 533
including IT
Human
264 260 10 152 686
Resources
Medical 152 826 57 350 1384
Commercial/
174 184 103 150 612
Supply
Safety
Health and 66 81 15 95 257
Environment
Risk mgt/
19 26 14 141 200
Security
Administration/
93 55 34 136 319
Legal
Total 2825 2460 1671 10247 17202

Recruitment in the Mining Sector

The Mines Safety Department Report observes that the average
number of graduates recruited annually by the surveyed companies in
the period 2001-2010 in Mining was 31, Metallurgy 34 (total of 65) and
Engineering was 38. The other skilled levels at Technologist, Technician
and Craft level were as indicated in Table 7.

Skills Gap for the Minerals Industry- 79

A Case for Zambia
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Table 7: Annual recruitment by skill level and function, 2001-10

Skill Level Mining Metallurgy Engineering Other Total
Disciplines
Graduate 31 34 38 59 162
Technologist 16 5 17 93* 131
Technician 38 1 37 14 90
Craft Certificate 103 12 312 53 480

*Higher than average figure is due to high attrition rates for Registered Nurses
Source: Hamukoma, 2011.

Whilst it is recognized that the surveyed companies reflected in

Table 7 represent only 58% of the total reported labor force in the
mining sector in 2010, the recruitment rate is accordingly expected to
be an understate of the total required. Despite this fact, the data is
indicative of the new graduate labor demand by the mining industry
over the period.

Graduate Training
The mining graduate training programs in Zambia are provided by the
University of Zambia (UNZA), and the Copperbelt University (CBU).
The University of Zambia is the oldest public university in the country,
established in 1966. It currently has nine schools. The School of
Mines was established in 1973, which has three departments, namely,
geology, mining and metallurgy and mineral processing. Between 1973
and 2010, the UNZA School of Mines produced a total of 953 graduates
(Sikazwe, 2010).

The Copperbelt University was established in 1987 as an offshoot of the

UNZA, with the School of Business (formerly the School of Business and
Industrial Studies), and the School of the Built Environment (formerly
School of Environmental Studies) and the School of Technology where
mining related courses are taught. It started with a total student population
of 514. In 2008, the student body had risen to 5,155 in six schools.

80
These two universities are the primary source of local graduates that serve
the Zambian mining industry. Table 8 shows the number of students who
have graduated from these two universities between 2002 and 2009.

Table 8: Distribution of graduating students by skill level

(2002-2009)

Year of Degree
Graduation
Mines Mining/ Sub Eng Eng Grand
UNZA Met CBU total UNZA CBU Total
2002 37 28 65 92 78 235
2003 34 18 52 88 92 232
2004 31 27 58 62 92 212
2005 26 27 53 60 92 205
2006 20 62 82 65 94 241
2007 18 64 82 77 131 290
2008 22 59 81 72 99 252
2009 44 76 120 78 186 384
Total 232 361 593 594 864 2051
Source: Hamukoma, 2011

Figure 5 given on the following page compares the graduate supply and
demand status in the Zambian mining industry, and reflects that on the
whole there is a shortage of supply of skilled labor. Unless interventions
are made, this shortage is expected to get worse due to the increase
in the number of new mines projected to come on line between now
and 2015. These new operations include Trident, the First Quantum
Project, the new Kansanshi Smelter and Acid Plant, Konkola North
Mine by Vale and Rainbow Minerals.

It is interesting to note that student enrollment appears to be strongly

linked to the attractiveness of possible employment opportunities in the
mining industry as clearly reflected by the variation of student enrollment

Skills Gap for the Minerals Industry- 81

A Case for Zambia
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Figure 5: Plot of mining school graduates and estimated annual

recruitment by the mining industry

180
160
140
Estimated annual graduate recruitment
120
100
80
60
40
Actual mining graduate output
20
0
2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011
Figure 6: University of Zambia School of Mines student enrollment,
2003-2011

70

60
Total Enrollment
50

40

30

20
Enrollment of
10 Geologists

0
2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

82
Figure 7: World copper prices (USD/lb) between 2003-2011

4
3.5
3
2.5
World Copper
2
Price (USD/lb)
1.5
1
0.5
0
2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011
within the University of Zambia, School of mines between the period of
2003 and 2011 (Figures 6 and 7), compared to the world copper prices. It
is seen that in 2010 the total enrollment went down following the dip in the
copper prices the previous year, 2009.

Quality of Graduates
There are a number of challenges faced by the two Zambian universities,
and these adversely affect the quality of graduates. These challenges
include limited interaction at high level between the training institutions
and industry. Prior to the privatization of the Zambia Consolidated Copper
Mines, there was a centralized human resource planning unit within the
company that coordinated labor demands with the training institutions and
ensured long term labor planning and training. However, this does not exist
anymore as the human resource planning units at the new private mine
owners operate independently and do not relate in any meaningful way to
training institutions. Training institutions do not have any idea of the human
resource requirements of the industry both in the short and long term,

Skills Gap for the Minerals Industry- 83

A Case for Zambia
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

and therefore the training of mining graduates is not effectively related to

the requirements of the industry. There are limited research opportunities
presented to the universities as some of the new mine owners prefer to
use universities from their home countries. This limited interaction has
also resulted in inadequate research facilities at the two universities due
to lack of reinvestment. Finally, there has also been a significant drop in
student sponsorships, with the attendant reduction in financial support for
the students and the universities. This has contributed to the diminished
interest by students to take up careers in the mining sector.

The Zambian Chamber of Mines Council meeting of November 1, 2002,

took note of the low interaction between the mining industry and training
institutions providing human resources. In anticipation of increased mining
activities the meeting resolved to pursue the establishment of the Zambia
Mining Sector Education Trust (ZAMSET) to facilitate the provision of
skilled manpower to the Zambian Mining Sector and to provide liaison with
institutions dealing with training skilled manpower (Hamukoma, 2011).
Such a body was expected to facilitate long term strategic human resource
requirement planning and provide direction to human resource training
and retraining. Further, it would support training institutions with research
facilities, thereby improving the quality of graduates. The universities look
forward to the realization of this Trust.

Conclusion
The future of the mining sector in Zambia is very bright given the substantial
world class copper deposits in Zambia. However, the mining industry
in Zambia must deliberately and effectively engage the local training
institutions in order to address the mining sector’s human resource
requirements. The Zambia Government can help by creating a fiscal
arrangement that will encourage research, such as providing for all money
that a mining company invests in research becoming tax deductable. This
will drive research forward that will benefit the nation. Without such an
intervention, mining like other extractive industries is notorious for failing to
horizontally engage in local economies, and employing very limited numbers
of people compared to the capital investment due to mechanization.

84
References
 Economies: Main Economic and Policy Issues, GDN Working paper
No 43
 Hamukoma P. June 2011, Survey and Analysis of Demand for
and Supply of Skilled Workers in the Zambian Mining Industry,
Commissioned by Mines Safety Department, Zambia, support by the
World Bank
 Infor Mine.com, 2011, Copper prices between January 1998 and
October 2011
 International Copper Study Group, Paper No 2, 2007
 International Copper Study Group, 39th Regular Meeting, April 2012
 Meller P and Simpasa A. , June 2011, Role of Copper in the Chilean &
Zambian
 Ministry of Mines, Energy and Water Development, Mining Labor
Statutory Data, 2012
 Moore S. March 2012, Zambia Extractive Industries Transparency
Initiative Independent Reconciliation Report for The Year 2009
 Sikazwe O. 2010. School of Mines – Status and Way Forward,
presentation to Association of Zambian Mining Exploration Companies
(AZMEC)
 US Geological Survey Minerals Yearbooks, 2007
 US Geological Survey Minerals Yearbooks, 2010

Skills Gap for the Minerals Industry- 85

A Case for Zambia
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

86
Minerals Industry Engagement in
Metallurgical Education in Australia

G H Lind
Minerals Tertiary Education Council (MTEC), Minerals Council of
Australia, Melbourne Victoria 3000 Australia

Abstract
The Minerals Tertiary Education Council (MTEC), over the past
decade, has worked closely with Australian higher education partners
in metallurgical education to build capacity in this discipline to deliver
high quality graduates for the Australian minerals-industry. This paper
explores the benefits of industry engagement through a national
innovative collaboration, the Metallurgical Education Partnership (MEP),
and specifically the final year Process Design Project (PDP), over the
four year period from 2008-2011. Some of the benefits discussed
in this paper include outcomes of the student experience during
an industry-intensive workshop, collaboration between higher
education providers and aligning graduate attributes to meet industry
requirements.

Keywords: Metallurgical Education Partnership (MEP),

higher education, collaboration, industry engagement

Introduction
The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) represents Australia’s exploration,
mining and minerals processing industry, nationally and internationally, in
its contribution to sustainable economic and social development. MCA
member companies produce more than 85% of Australia’s annual mineral
output, contributing some $154 billion in 2010-11 (52%) of Australia’s total
exports (Minerals Council of Australia, 2012).

Minerals Industry Engagement in Metallurgical Education 87

in Australia
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Minerals-related higher education courses (mining engineering, metallurgy

and earth sciences) have been chronically underfunded in Australia,
requiring the industry to subsidize these courses heavily. The Minerals
Tertiary Education Council (MTEC) – the higher education arm of the
Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) – engages with the tertiary education
sector in Australia to help ensure the sustainability of this sector and so
influence the supply of suitably educated and trained professionals for the
minerals industry.

Since 1999, over $25 million of industry funds have been allocated to
assist MTEC in the development of industry-focused courses and in the
employment of academic staff and educational specialists (Minerals Tertiary
Education Council, 2012). MTEC fosters the partnership between industry,
government and academia to promote and provide opportunities in the
tertiary education arena by working with a network of selected university
partners. These partners are dedicated to achieving world-class education
by cooperating in the development and delivery of undergraduate and
postgraduate programs in the specialist disciplines of mining engineering,
metallurgy and earth science (specifically minerals geoscience). MTEC works
with 15 partner universities across Australia – four in mining engineering,
three in metallurgy and eight in minerals geoscience in building capacity
in the higher education arena to deliver high quality graduates to industry.
Through industry engagement, Australia not only has the capability to
produce high quality graduates but also the opportunity of delivering tertiary
minerals education to the global minerals industry.

Importantly for the minerals industry in Australia, the MCA reports an

increase final-year students at MTEC-supported universities over the
years 2007-2011 by 94% in minerals geoscience (Honours), 84% in mining
engineering and 50% in extractive metallurgy (Minerals Tertiary Education
Council, 2011a). These increases are encouraging but, considering that
employment in the Australian minerals industry has doubled over the
same period, the gap in delivering professional skills is not only widening,
but these professions are falling behind in their ability to meet industry’s
demand for skilled engineers and geoscientists.

88
Metallurgical Education in Australia
In this paper, metallurgical engineering refers specifically to primary and
extractive metallurgy, including minerals processing rather than the more
general chemical engineering or the downstream physical metallurgy or
materials engineering disciplines. Good definitions of these terms can be
found on the website of the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy
(AusIMM, 2012).

There are 11 Australian universities that teach chemical engineering

and six that teach materials engineering undergraduate programs.
Chemical engineering programs at all these universities often contain
elements of primary and secondary metallurgy but none (except for
the University of Queensland) have a metallurgy major. The materials
engineering program at the University of Wollongong has a focus
on the steel industry and is recognized by the AusIMM whereas, the
materials engineering, physical metallurgy and process metallurgy
programs at the University of NSW and the materials engineering
program at the University of Queensland do not appear to have a
mining/minerals focus.

Table 1 summarizes the status of University Metallurgical Engineering in

2011 (and compares it as well as possible with the status in 1993).

Only The University of Queensland, Curtin University and Murdoch

University teach four-year undergraduate programs in metallurgy. Between
them they produce about 40 graduates a year and have done so since
2008. This is an increase on the long-term average of about 30 per annum
since 2000. Disappointingly, only about 60% of first year undergraduate
metallurgy students make it through to final (fourth) year, with most falling
by the wayside during or after first year or by electing to enrollin double
degrees, usually with a non-engineering specialization in the second
degree.

Murdoch University has a four-year degree program called Bachelor

Extractive Metallurgy and a three-year Bachelor of Science in Mineral

Minerals Industry Engagement in Metallurgical Education 89

in Australia
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Table 1: The status of metallurgy undergraduate degree programs

in Australian universities (as developed and provided by Dr. Kevin
Tuckwell, 15 May 2012)

University 1993 2011

Status 1
Status Comments
The School of Faculty of Four-year Bachelor
University of Engineering. Engineering, of Chemical and
Queensland2 Department Architecture Metallurgical
of Mining and and Information Engineering (Dual
Metallurgical Technology. Major).
Engineering School of Chemical AusIMM recognized
Engineering
Curtin Western Faculty of Science Four-year Bachelor
University2 Australian and Engineering. of Engineering
School of Mines. Western Australian (Extractive
Department School of Mines. Metallurgy), and
of Minerals Department of Four-year Bachelor of
Engineering Metallurgical Engineering (Minerals
and Extractive and Minerals Engineering) with
Metallurgy Engineering double degree
options.
AusIMM recognized
Murdoch Mathematical Faculty of Science Three-year Bachelor
University2 and Physical and Engineering. of Mineral Science or
Sciences. School of Chemical Four-year Bachelor of
Discipline of and Mathematical Extractive Metallurgy.
Mineral Science Sciences. AusIMM recognized
Discipline of
Chemistry and
Mineral Science
The University Faculty of
of New South Applied Science.
Wales School of Mines
and Department
of Mineral
Processing

90
 University 1993 2011
Status 1
Status Comments
University Gartrell School
of South of Mining,
Australia Metallurgy
and Applied
Geology3
University of Ballarat School of Science, Three-year Bachelor
Ballarat University Information of Applied Science
College Technology and (Metallurgy).
Engineering Honours available
AusIMM recognized
Notes:
1
The 1993 organizational status may not always be accurate or complete
2
Member of the MCA/MTEC sponsored Metallurgical Education Partnership (MEP) consortium
3
The Gartrell School of Mines closed in 2006
 No undergraduate degree programs with a metallurgy major

Science. Some Bachelor of Extractive Metallurgy students do not complete

and join industry after three years study graduating with a Bachelor of
Science in Mineral Science.

Curtin University has a four-year degree program called the Bachelor

of Engineering (Metallurgical Engineering) and a three-year Bachelor of
Science (Extractive Metallurgy). Similar to Murdoch University, some Curtin
University students do not complete and join industry after three years
study, graduating with a Bachelor of Science (Extractive Metallurgy).

In an attempt to overcome the issues of low and falling student numbers

in metallurgy, The University of Queensland created a dual major in
Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering in 2005(which does not provide an
intermediary award option). Since the introduction of this course, student
enrollments have increased substantially. There is no intermediary award
option at The University of Queensland with the four-year program (and a
new five-year option) being the minimum outcome.

Minerals Industry Engagement in Metallurgical Education 91

in Australia
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Australian Minerals Industry Involvement in

Metallurgical Education
Simply, without direct industry financial and in-kind support, extractive
metallurgy programs at Australian universities would be under severe
threat of closure, predominantly due to low historic enrollments as
described previously and universally high teaching costs associated with
these programs. Some core contributors to the increasing teaching costs
of metallurgy degrees include:
 The failure of past Australian Governments to index higher education
funding which has resulted in a growing inability of university
departments to be viable under the student numbers-based system
– especially when student numbers are low;
 A failure by the Australian Government to recognize metallurgy as a
discipline of national interest and provide it with appropriate levels of
funding;
 Universities investing in teaching and learning capabilities for high
enrollment, low teaching cost courses (i.e. volume-driven programs);
 Shortages of skilled academic staff, compounded by the ageing profile
of academics.

The Australian Government committed significant reforms in higher

education in 2011 (DEEWR, 2012) through the reintroduction of indexation
and a demand-driven student funding scheme. However, these reforms
(realistically) are of little consequence or benefit to the extractive metallurgy
departments in Australia as they do not address the chronic structural
underfunding of this core discipline.

In addition, to secure a future supply of professionals for the minerals

industry direct investment by the minerals industry, has been and is still
a requirement. This investment ensures that universities can sustainably
deliver high-cost/low-student number programs by increasing their capacity
toattract and retain high quality academics and researchers. Industry
involvement also facilitates the delivery of undergraduate programs that
equip students with relevant high quality technical and decision making

92
skills that take account of the social, environmental and financial aspects
of development. Graduates who have these skills can actively play key
roles in delivering on the national innovation agenda, by accounting for the
rights and interests of both current and future generations.

Figure 1 shows the actual and predicted graduations in the year 2015
(from the three universities identified already as being the only universities
in Australia delivering four-year trained metallurgists). Total completions
have stabilized at a plateau of about 40 graduates per year; a level which
is well below that required to keep three metallurgy schools viable. It is also
less than industry demand for graduates with skills in extractive metallurgy
and therefore the minerals industry continues to recruit mineral science
graduates and chemical engineers to meet the shortfall.

Figure 1: Actual and predicted graduations from MEP universities

out to 2015

60

51
50
43 42 42
41 40 41
Number of Students

40
34
32
29 30
30
22
20

10

0
2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Metallurgical Education Partnership (MEP)

Minerals companies support the teaching of metallurgical engineering by
funding some academic positions at universities and through MTEC for

Minerals Industry Engagement in Metallurgical Education 93

in Australia
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

the cross-institutional undergraduate Metallurgical Education Partnership

(MEP) program to address the issues previously discussed.In 2007, the
higher education arm of the Minerals Council of Australia – the Minerals
Tertiary Education Council (MTEC) – and three partner universities formed
the Metallurgical Education Partnership (MEP) to create industry-relevant
collaborative education projects in metallurgy. The partner universities include
Curtin University (through the Western Australian School of Mines), Murdoch
University and The University of Queensland because fundamentally these
three universities produce all the four-year trained graduate metallurgists
in Australia. The MEP is a collaborative initiative that calls extensively on
industry experts to address the issue of increasing the skills base of the
graduates by providing guidance, and specific contemporary technical
information on metallurgical plants and processes, to the MEP students who
work in teams on their design projects (Churach & Smith, 2011).

MEP’s first project, the Process Design Project (PDP), is now in its fifth
year and is the first collaborative course of this nature to be run for minerals
education in Australia. The aim of PDP is to give final year extractive
metallurgy and chemical engineering students an in-depth experience at
working as a team in designing a mineral processing plant. The course
is intended to act as the quintessential vehicle for students to integrate
all the technical content included in their undergraduate education, with
the ultimate goal of completing a “mock” design for a commodity specific
processing plant. Student groups are formed across university boundaries
with the assigned “contract work” using relevant industry data. The student
groups must apply their knowledge of mineral processing within limitations
of a described ore body, economic, geographic and social parameters and
energy and carbon constraints.

Outcomes of Student Experiences with MEP

A key component of the PDP project is a week-long industry based
workshop conducted at the beginning of second semester, which is
attended by all participating students. The rigorous ‘kick-off’ face-to-face
induction sets the tone for the semester-long project and allows students
to develop working relationships with members of their ‘design’ team.

94
These relationships continue after students have returned to their home
universities and throughout the design process. The aims of the, workshop
are four-fold:
 To immerse students in technical information concerning their specific
assigned commodity and the design process in general
 To expose students to information sessions from a wide ranging group
of technical, business and environmental experts provided by industry
supporters
 To provide a cross-fertilization of academic expertise and styles across
the three universities, allowing students to access to a composite
knowledgebase not available to any one university
 To develop a strong network of peers, on both a working and social
level, which student participants can call on throughout the semester-
long project and into their pending professional careers.

The value of PDP, as perceived by industry, is reflected in both their

financial and in kind commitment to the program. Each year, in addition
to a substantial financial contribution which affords students across the
country the opportunity to meet in one central location, a number of
industry representatives contribute a minimum combined total of 100
hours to delivering seminars at the workshop.

During the workshop and on-going cross-university team work, the PDP
provides young metallurgists with an opportunity to form a network of
contacts with peersand industry representatives, which have the potential
to continue beyond the completion of the course.

Students are surveyed pre and post-workshop and again at the end
of the program to not only understand the overall student experience
but also to identify areas that require attention post-workshop but also
post-course delivery. The consistency between the three surveys in
question design and how the responses are collated, enables the
student experiences to be mapped throughout the course. The results of
these three surveys for 2011 gained from the 47 participating students
are presented here.

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Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Student expectations
Students were asked both pre and post the workshop to indicate their
expectation of the hours required to complete the MEP design project and
the grade they expected to achieve which was compared to actual hours
spent and expected grade at the end of the project. Table 2 shows the
survey results (as a percentage) of expected hours and actual hours per
week committed to the project, and Table 3 shows the survey results (as
a percentage) of the grade anticipated at the same intervals. The data
gathered indicates that overall students had clearer expectations of the
amount of time required to complete the project and their expectations
of achievement were higher post the workshop.There was also better
alignment of grade expectations and the time commitments with the overall
course requirements.

Table 2: MEP student expectations of hours required per week

(percentage)
Hours per week (percentage)
1–5 5 - 15 15 - 25 25 - 35 35+ Unsure % Total
Pre- 2.1 17 31.9 15 10.6 23.4 100
workshop
Post- 4.25 4.25 31.9 53.2 6.4 0 100
workshop
Post- 3.45 24.13 24.13 17.24 31.04 0 100
project

Table 3: MEP student expectations of grade (percentage)

Grade expected (percentage)
High Did Not %
Pass Credit Distinction Unsure
Distinction Answer Total
Pre-
100
workshop 2.1 17 53.2 19.2 2.1 6.4
Post-
100
workshop 4.2 12.8 47 27.6 4.2 4.2
Post-
100
project 6.9 24.1 41.4 17.3 10.3 0

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Student feedback
Prior to the workshop students were asked to rate their confidence and
enthusiasm against specific aspects of the project on a scale of 1-5 (1-
not at all, and 5-very confident / enthusiastic). Similarly post the workshop
the students were asked to compare their confidence and enthusiasm to
before the workshop on a scale of 1-5 (1-significantly less, 3-no change, 5-
significantly higher). At the end of project students were asked to make similar
comparisons with their post-workshop experiences. Table 4 summarizes
the results which indicate that overall, the comparative enthusiasm and
confidence levels of students for specific aspects of the project increased

Table 4: Mean student confidence and enthusiasm for MEP project

aspects
Project Mean student Confidence Mean student enthusiasm
aspect level level
Pre Post Post Pre Post Post
workshop workshop project workshop workshop project
Large 3.44 3.76 3.68 3.43 3.30 3.31
projects /
final report
Design 3.34 3.83 4.00 3.94 3.87 3.76
projects
Team work 3.98 4.06 3.79 3.87 3.72 3.89
Defining 3.98 4.00 3.58 3.85 3.68 3.86
team roles
Team 3.72 3.89 3.65 3.7 3.66 3.65
assessment
Meeting 3.47 3.94 3.65 3.55 3.68 3.83
protocols
Managing 3.68 3.94 3.58 3.77 3.68 3.72
conflict
Working 3.62 3.85 3.45 3.81 3.66 3.55
with different
people
Time 3.42 3.74 3.38 3.49 3.70 3.27
management

Minerals Industry Engagement in Metallurgical Education 97

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Minerals Industry: Education and Training

throughout the project. Students were also asked to rate how the workshop
experience and post workshop assistance provided them with appropriate
levels of guidance and preparation to meet a number of the assessment
criteria. On a rating scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being extremely unhelpful, 3 unsure
and 5 extremely helpful, students overall perceived the workshop as very
helpful in providing the required assistance and guidance (Table 5).

Table 5: Mean level of guidance and preparation provided by MEP

Task element Overall student mean
Expected time commitment 4.11
Delineation of tasks 3.77
Assessment requirements 4.00
Project planning 4.22
Identifying process options 4.27
Environmental OHS 4.11
Cost estimation 4.18

Students were asked to provide written responses to what they gained by

participating in the workshop and the benefit of industry participation. Overall
students felt they gained a better understanding of technical processes
(knowledge) related to the requirements of the project, organizing group
tasks and networking with industry representatives. Specifically related
to industry involvement, students indicated the benefits centered around
the presentation of relevant, up to date and practical information and
knowledge. When asked about possible improvements to the workshop,
no specific pattern in responses appeared with 15 students not providing
a response. Overall, this feedback would suggest that students found
participating in the workshop a positive, informative and educational
experience.

The three student surveys have provided valuable information for both
university academics and MTEC in tracking experienced and implementing
strategies to manage student expectations whilst providing point-in-time
data on which to build improvements to the overall program year-on-year.

98
Collaboration between Higher Education
Providers
The MEP is guided by a Steering Committee and executed by an
Implementation Committee. MTEC, as representing industry, chairs both
of these committees in driving the desired outcome of building capacity in
metallurgical higher education to increase the quantity of quality graduates
required by industry.

On reflection of the positive aspects of the teaching experience in 2011,

the MEP academics summarized the following factors contributing to them
delivering quality graduates:
 The five day workshop works very well; this was the best workshop yet
 The new course model was more flexible and easier to coordinate
 The workload for students was intense and demanding but rewarding
 The real-world context of the project is a real positive
 Industry support was a highlight this year, both at the workshop and for
associated activities outside the workshop
 The group-work aspect of the course was a highlight; both positive and
negative experiences contributed to student learning.
 The broad scope and tight time-line is good preparation for the real
world
 The professional peer review provided an opportunity for developing
critical review skills
 Students were shown a pathway for professional technical
development
 The collaborative teaching approach leads to ambiguity at times,
forcing students to rely on their own judgement. This is excellent
practise for real world situations.

Specifically, the academic staff from each of the three MEP partner
universities had this to say about their 2011 collaborative teaching
experience and industry involvement:
“I think that we had a good course this year, with some shiny moments
and some truly impressive speakers. The number of experts from

Minerals Industry Engagement in Metallurgical Education 99

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Minerals Industry: Education and Training

industry who are happy to donate their time and energy to our cause,
which is to produce well trained metallurgists, continues to increase
year to year. The relationships between the unit coordinators from the
three universities and industry have developed further and an already
successful course has been improved.”

“The opportunity to be involved in the workshop and industry interaction

makes it an enjoyable teaching experience hence I’m happy to be back
for round 3 next year.”

“This teaching experience provided the opportunity to get to know

other universities’ teaching methodologies, research and teaching
environment from other teaching members. This is also a chance to
develop the network. During the teaching, there is a chance to share
the experience and also help each other to solve problems.”

Aligning Graduate Outcomes to Meet Industry

Requirements
Each of the four-year metallurgy undergraduate programs offered by
the three MEP universities is recognized by the Australasian Institute
of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM). The programs at Curtin University
and The University of Queensland are also accredited by enigneers
Australia as meeting the academic requirements for membership at the
level of professional engineer (Engineers Australia, 2012). The program at
Murdoch University is not an engineering program and therefore has not
been submitted for accreditation. As the enigneers Australia accredited
programs meet Washington Accord accreditation for professional engineer
which ensures international mobility of graduates from these institutions,
they therefore provide students participating in the MEP program with
opportunities beyond Australia.

In 2010, the MEP undertook a review of whether the learning outcomes

of the MEP program addressed the requisite Stage 1 Competencies as
required by enigneers Australia for Professional Engineer (Engineers
Australia, 2011). The exercise concluded that the MEP learning outcomes

100
(Table 6) adequately addressed the competencies required. By proxy,
students from Murdoch University, although not accredited by Engineers
Australia, have comfort in the high quality outcomes of their program being
a part of MEP.

Table 6: Learning outcomes of the MEP program

Broader contextual knowledge
i. Outline specific environmental, and occupational health and safety
(OH&S) issues for the project;
ii. Address sustainability and social issues relevant to the design project

Knowledge of discipline
i. Formulate a project management plan;
ii. Analyze available processing options and select an appropriate one given
a set of mineralogical and metallurgical data;
iii. Develop and optimize the selected process using sound design and
metallurgical principles and design tools;
iv. Design a metallurgical process and plant at pre-feasibility level of
complexity that includes a process flow diagram (PFD) and equipment,
and mass and energy balances generated using appropriate software;
v. Develop an appropriate plant layout;
vi. Develop an appropriate process control scheme including some control
loops;
vii. Assess the economic feasibility of the project;
Creative thinking and problem solving
i. Demonstrate sound judgment in the process selection, and equipment
selection and sizing, to a particular project;
Communication skills
i. Compose a written report that demonstrates knowledge of correct
presentation of data including appropriate use of tables and figures, and
good English including correct grammar, spelling and punctuation, and
good style;
ii. Conduct a professional-level technical presentation including the use of
electronic visual aids such as PowerPoint;
Teamwork skills and interpersonal skills
i. Work productively both as an individual and a team member.

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Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Further, industry commits significant resources to attend and contribute to

the MEP workshop – through presentations, guest lectures, tutorials and
panel question sessions – which adds significant value to the university-
specific accreditation processes. Since 2008, industry contribution to the
respective annual MEP workshop has run into the hundreds of hours.
In fact, many approaches to contribute to the MEP workshop are turned
away as a result of an already full and intensive program for the workshop
which is usually finalized months in advance. Industry values being able to
meet with the next generation of engineers and contribute meaningfully to
their education, as noted in the following responses in past industry MEP
workshop participants:

“Trust the students benefited not only from the industry presentations,
but also from the opportunity to interact with colleagues from other
universities.”

“Thanks and it was my pleasure. Great to see some of the groups

incorporating sustainability into the project presentations.”

“It was a good experience for me too to interact with young engineers
and the faculty members.”

“I enjoyed participating in the workshop and will be happy to present

again in future years if I am available.”

Conclusion
The Australian minerals industry – through the Minerals Tertiary Education
Council (MTEC) – is a proud initiator and supporter of national collaborative
initiatives in higher education to build capacity in the core disciplines of

102
mining engineering, metallurgy and minerals geoscience to deliver high
quality graduates which industry desires. The Australian minerals industry
continues to experience professional skill shortages in its core disciplines
and recognizes that its investment in higher education is one way to ensure
the future employment pipeline.

This paper has highlighted how direct industry investment in metallurgical

education on a national collaborative basis delivers benefits to students,
universities and industry. The extensive student surveys are designed
to manage expectations and implement early intervention tactics where
required to ensure that the learning outcomes are achieved. The MEP
workshop is highly valued by academic staff and students alike, particularly
in the use of real-world data and industry experts imparting valuable
knowledge in key technical areas.

Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges the Metallurgical Education Partnership
(MEP) education collaborators – The University of Queensland, Murdoch
University and Curtin University (through the Western Australian School
of Mines) – and the tireless efforts of the academics concerned in making
this collaborative effort truly world-class. The author alsoacknowledges
the MEP Coordinators and the excellent contribution which they have
successively made to the program over the past five years. Special thanks
to Miss. Nadine Smith for her assistance in preparing this paper.

The author thanks the Minerals Council of Australia for permission to

publish this paper and for the financial support in attending this esteemed
gathering.

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Minerals Industry: Education and Training

References
 Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (AusIMM) 2011.
Minerals industry careers, viewed on 18 May 2012,< http://www.
ausimm.com.au/content/docs/ausimm_careers.pdf >
 Churach D & Smith N 2011. Metallurgical Education Partnership
(MEP) – an industry supported national collaborative initiative, The
AusIMM Bulletin (Journal of the Australasian Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy), No.2 April 2011, pp. 44-45
 Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
(DEEWR) 2012, viewed on 18 May 2012, <http://www.deewr.gov.au/
HigherEducation/Pages/default.aspx>
 Engineers Australia 2011, Stage 1 competency standard for professional
engineer, viewed on 24 May 2012, <http://www.engineersaustralia.
org.au/sites/default/files/shado/Education/Program%20Accreditation/
110318%20Stage%201%20Professional%20Engineer.pdf>
 Engineers Australia 2012, Australian professional engineering
programs accredited by Engineers Australia, viewed on 24 May
2012,<http://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/shado/
Education/Program%20Accreditation/latest_be_programs_updated_
16_april__2012.pdf>
 Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) 2012, 2012-13 Pre-budget
submission, viewed on 17 May 2012, <http://www.minerals.org.au/
news/2012_13_pre_budget_submission/>
 Minerals Tertiary Education Council (MTEC) 2011a, MTEC 2011 key
performance measures report, viewed on 17 May 2012, <http://www.
minerals.org.au/news/mtec_2011_key_performance_measures_
report/>
 Minerals Tertiary Education Council (MTEC) 2011b, Higher education
base funding review submission, viewed on 18 May 2012, < http://
www.minerals.org.au/news/higher_education_base_funding_review/

104
 Section 4

Industry-Supported
Professional Development
Transformational Curriculum for B.Sc.
Graduates towards Mineral Processing
Expertise
A-M Ahonen
AaltoPro, Aalto University, Finland

K Heiskanen
School of Chemical Engineering, Aalto University, Finland

Abstract
The paper discusses the experiences of a fast-track curriculum designed
to provide the industry with enigneers capable of working in minerals
processing industry. The course was done once before as well and the
second course has now been started. Students chosen have graduated
from other fields of Engineering. For the first course 12 students were
chosen from 152 applicants and for the second the 12 students were
chosen from 96 applicants.

The basic idea of the curriculum is to alternate between theoretical studies

at the university and work experience periods at industrial sites. In addition
there are several one week assignment tasks at industrial sites.

The theoretical periods are six to eight weeks long and there are three
of them. During the first period, teaching concentrates on unit processes
and their chemical and physical background. The theme of the second
period is mineral engineering systems; flowsheet development, process
dynamics, control systems etc. The last theoretical period teaches
environmental issues, leadership, project work and other similar topics.
Each of the theoretical periods ends with an assignment week at
industrial sites. The assignments are designed to wrap up the teachings
of the period.

Transformational Curriculum for BSc Graduates 107

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Minerals Industry: Education and Training

For the industrial periods the students are given learning goals, which
have been discussed and designed with their industrial mentors. They are
required to find relevant literature, make experimental designs, implement
those designs, present the data and make conclusions of their results.
During these periods a weekly meeting over the internet is compulsory.

Keywords: higher education, guided constructivism, transformational

education

Introduction
In comparison to other fields of Engineering, the cyclic nature of the Mining
industry as well as its relative size in terms of required graduates, has made
this variant of Engineering challenging for the universities. The reputation
often given to it, as an environmentally disastrous unsustainable activity,
has made things worse. During the years of low recruitment all this led to
the closure of many Minerals Engineering and Mining Programs and to
modifications in the curriculum taught especially in Europe, North America
and Australia. When the ongoing mega-trend of increased commodity
demand and the ensuing strong prices caused the demand of enigneers
to increase, universities were not well prepared to rise up to the challenge.
There are, of course, large variations on the preparedness. The work done
by Cilliers (2011), shows a large variation country-wise in the numbers of
graduates.

Finland was in an almost similar situation, for long periods of time the
number of mines were slowly decreasing. The situation has however now
reversed completely. The number of new mines has increased rapidly with
new projects ensuring that this rapid growth will continue. The difference
in Finland was that strong technology companies continued hiring Mineral
enigneers also when mines did not. Due to this the program at Aalto
University (then Helsinki University of Technology) survived.

The challenge for a University in this kind of surge of demand is three-

fold. Firstly the time factor, it easily takes six years for a freshman to
become a Master of Engineering. The second challenge is allocation

108
of resources.Usually there are several expanding and new programs
queuing for resources at any particular University. The last but not least of
the challenges is to keep up the quality of teaching. Hiring highly qualified
personnel is not an easy task.

In discussing the future needs with the industry representatives, a new

solution was developed to train enigneers from other fields in Minerals
Engineering without compromising the quality. The special course would
be run by the Adult Education Unit of the University and would combine
academic and industrial work. An Industrial contact group was formed
with representatives from all the companies wanting to participate. It’s
tasks were to agree upon the curriculum and follow the advancement
of the education. The announcement in selected dailies produced a
good response and 152 applicants were received. The university did set
academic credential limits in order to short list the candidates. About 25
were short listed. From this list, the companies picked up candidates for
interviews and psychological tests. Finally 12 students were accepted.
On the second course the number of applicants was 96. The rest of the
procedure was similar.

The companies agreed to hire students and pay them a small salary
during the course. The University enrolled the students as special students
without giving them the full student status (entitling them to get a degree
from the University). However, the University acknowledged the course
to be fully compatible with a first year of its Master studies. Some of the
students with a BSc degree applied to the University’s master courses and
then executed the option.

Curriculum Development
As Passow (2007) has pointed out, there is a strong need to get industry
involved in the discussion about the curriculum. The main questions to
be answered were ‘‘Which competencies are important for professional
practice” and ‘‘What should the relative emphasis be among them’’. This
was done in our Industrial Contact group.

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There a need for studies of skills done by academicians and learned

engineering bodies. Passow (2007) made a meta-analysis of 10 such
studies, totalling 5978 answers. The result showed that:
 Problem solving skills
 Communication
 Ethics
 Life-long learning
 Experimental work
 Teamwork
 Skills in using engineering tools

ranked among the most important skills, before Mathematics, Science

and Engineering. The discussion with our own industrial contact group
yielded rather similar results. However, it was apparent, that contextual
engineering skills were taken as granted. In designing the curriculum, the
skills mentioned in the Passow list and elsewhere, were considered as
a new skill layer that had to be taught along with teaching of contextual
engineering skills.

Learning Outcomes
The learning outcomes defined together with the industrial contact group
representatives were:
 The student shall be capable of operating a minerals beneficiation
plant as a Junior Engineer and shall be capable of solving operational
problems as also develop flowsheets by methodical use of available
engineering tools.
 The student shall be capable of creating plausible engineering solutions
and optimizing existing systems within his/her specialization to any
mineral matter taking into consideration the constraints and systemic
interactions of economy, legislation, environment, society and the
availability of services and consumables as well as the requirements
of the previous preceeding beneficiation steps.

110
 The student shall be capable of partaking in applying new technologies
and systems within his/her specialization.
 The student shall be able to develop effective lines of enquiry –
literature, experiments, tacit knowledge.
 The student shall be able to communicate about Engineering – orally,
in writing and graphically, for different kinds of audiences.
 The student shall be confident in working in groups and be capable
to find his/her role in the group acting as a group expert member or
leader.
 The student acquires a skill to make decisions based on acquired
knowledge.
 The student is capable to assess the quality of his/her own work and
work made by others.
 The student appreciates life long learning as a goal.

As discussed earlier, this calls for contextualized studies in the basics

of mineral processing; unit processes, particle technology, mineralogy,
metallurgical counting and plant analysis, fluid and powder dynamics,
experimental design and process statistics, process dynamics and
control and also studies in the basics of mining and bio, hydro and pyro-
metallurgy. However, it will also call for a course structure, where many of
the “academic skills” are developed.

Learning Theories Applied

The course aimed to work along the modern learning theories, where the
cognitive activity of the students is emphasized. We have not gone to the
extreme of social constructivism but maintained a fair amount of teacher
guidance during the courses. ”Pure” constructivist teaching is not efficient
(Mayer 2004, Kirschner et al. 2006) as the cognitive structures created
without guidance may be both slow to come into existence and may contain
major flaws with respect to the laws of nature and the scientific body of
knowledge accumulated over the years. Guided learning is effective
as it activates appropriate knowledge to be used for making sense of
new incoming information and helps to integrate it with an appropriate

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knowledge base. It was also quite evident that the varying background of
the students made guidance a requirement.

Another factor in our thinking was inspired by the works of Bruner (1960,
1966). His ideas of a spiral curriculum, i.e. revisiting the basic ideas several
times while building more complex cognitive structures, has been one of
the themes in designing the curriculum. He also stated that the students
need enough freedom to become cognitively active in the building of the
said cognitive structures.

Curriculum Structure
The curriculum structure was designed to broadly follow the CDIO outlines
developed by KTH and MIT (Crawley et al. 2007) (CDIO = Conceive,
Design, Implement and Operate). This allowed us to develop two important
issues into our curriculum. The first was the spiral curriculum of Bruner
and the second was the gradual development of afore defined “academic
skills” interwoven into the contextual topic courses. We had no specialized
courses for any of the academic learning outcomes.

The course was organized into 7-10 week modules alternating between
theoretical studies at the University and assignment work at plants.

The first theoretical module sets the basic contextual basis and is the most
traditional with some classroom lectures, small assignments, and first
work on enquiring data to find relevant information for the assignments
and some first 5-15 minutes presentations of their work in public.

The second theoretical module is designed more around assignment

in groups. These assignments are to deepen the knowledge of the unit
processes in a systemic plant wide context. A major theme is the flow
sheet development for the beneficiation of different ore types. There will
still be some more traditional lectures in process dynamics and control as
well as in powder mechanics.

The third theoretical module consists of projects with very few introductory
lectures attached to them. The project works are aiming to develop

112
systemic thinking and the skills of the student to assess his/her own work
and that of others. The themes are environmental, safety, maintenance,
leadership and economics.

During the course there are four industrial weeks at processing plants
with the teachers at the end of each theoretical module plus one during
the first theoretical module, their structure is always the same. On
Monday morning the students are divided into groups of four and given
assignments. The assignments are presented orally to the enigneers of
the company on Friday afternoon. Usually a lively discussion follows the
assignment. The student groups are expected to work on their assignments
by obtaining information from the enigneers, shift bosses and operational
crew. There is a discussion hour with the teachers every evening and
a longer discussion on Wednesday evening. The weeks have a theme
related to the theoretical week. The first (during the first module) theme
is “experimental work”, which involves experimental designs, sampling,
laboratory experiments and experimental error estimates. The second
theme, at the end of the first theoretical module, is “processes” involving
operational features of the process units, mass balances, circulating
loads, reagent regimes, water balance etc. The third theme is “systems”,
which consists of control systems, maintenance systems, work safety
and consumables. The last theme is “cooperation”. In this the students
have to tackle issues like environmental issues, relations with the society
and management.

All students were obliged to have three feedback meetings with the
professor and the course coordinator (a pedagogist) during the course.
In these discussions issues like results, group performance and behavior,
personal development and work ethics were discussed. Also, all grievances
the student had were discussed. At the end, personal development goals
until the next meeting were agreed upon.

Experiences from the Courses

The spiral curriculum idea of Bruner (Bruner 1960, 1966) worked well.
The obtained cognitive structures were of high quality with most of the

Transformational Curriculum for BSc Graduates 113

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Minerals Industry: Education and Training

students. The learning goals were fulfilled to a high degree. The student
feedback on the spiral curriculum was positive.

One of the tenets of this course was to challenge the students with the
Vygotskyan “zone of maximal development” (Vygotsky, 1978), where
students are challenged with tasks that refer to skills and knowledge
beyond their current level of mastery. This turned out to be a challenge
due to the very different backgrounds of students. Sometimes it was quite
evident that some of the students were challenged with daunting tasks,
while aiming at the ”zone of maximal development”. As Brainerd and
Piaget (2004) point out “Learning experiences that are designed to teach
concepts that are clearly beyond the current stage of cognitive development
are a waste of time for both teacher and learner. ”During the first course
we could not maintain consistently the “zone of maximal development”
resulting in a mental stress variation that caused motivation problems. The
work levels did build up during the first theoretical period but being new
and interesting it did not cause much stress. As the students returned from
their first practical period and were already more knowledgeable in their
own mind, the new challenges of problem solving caused the stress to
build up fast. This affected motivation and learning achievements of some
of the students adversely during the second theoretical period. It turned
out that keeping up the workload at the high levels all the time, caused
some fatigue in some of the students as their learning skills had vanished.
The issue that the companies hired the students had some of the students
saying that they only work normal office hours, something not accepted
by the teachers. All this caused some friction between the teachers and
students. It also caused some friction between the students and smaller
competing study groups started to form. These frictions were dealt with
in open discussion sessions, which called for some facilitating skills from
senior teachers.

114
Conclusions
The first group of students have now been working in the industry for a
good two years. Four of them have been promoted to a position of Mill
Superintendent at various mining companies and four are working as Mill
Research enigneers. Engineering companies have employed three as
Application enigneers and one person is continuing her studies towards a
Doctoral degree.

The fast track training turned out to be an effective way of transforming

enigneers from other disciplines to minerals processing experts. The idea
of alternating theoretical and practical periods has also worked well. At the
graduation ceremony, the students were well socialized into the Minerals
Engineering community and were more mature in their skills than normally
graduated students.

The program is very demanding for teachers and calls much attention to
detail. The most difficult issues were the balancing of cognitive challenges
with the developing capabilities of the students and maintaining the “arch
of learning” during the industrial periods.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to acknowledge the work done by MSc Anniina
Hukari and MSc Hannele Vuorimies for their contribution during the
curriculum development of the first course.

References
 Brainerd C.J. and Piaget J., 2003. Learning, Research, and American
Education, in Educational Psychology: A century of contributions. (Eds.:
Zimmerman B.J. and Schunk D.H.) Lawrence Erlbaum associates,
London

 Bruner J., 1960.The Process of Education, Harvard University Press,

Cambridge, Mass., USA

Transformational Curriculum for BSc Graduates 115

towards Mineral Processing Expertise
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

 Bruner J., 1966. Toward a Theory of Instruction, BelkappPress,

Cambridge, Mass., USA

 Cilliers J., 2011. Sustaining Minerals Engineering talent. A world view

of supply and demand. Imperial College, UK

 Crawley E.F., Malmqvist J., Östlund S. and Brodeur D.R., 2007.

Rethinking Engineering Education, Springer, New York

 Kirschner P.A., Sweller J. and Clark R.E., 2006. Why Minimal guidance
During Instruction Does Not Work: An Analysis of the failure of
Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Base, Experimental, and Inquiry-
Based teaching, Educational Psychologist, Vol. 41, No 2, 75-86

 Mayer R.E., 2004. Should there be a three strike rule against pure
discovery learning. American Psychologist, Vol. 59, No 1, 14-19

 Passow H.J., 2007. What competencies should engineering programs

emphasize? A metal-analysis of practitioners’ opinion informs
curricular design. Proc. Of the 3rd International CDIO conference, MIT,
Cambridge, Mass., USA, June 11-14, 2007

 Vygotsky L., 1978. Interaction between learning and development, a

reprint in Readings in the development of children, (Eds.:Gauvain M.
and Cole M.) W.H. Freeman Publishing (1997), New York

116
Developing Technical Excellence in Young
Australian Metallurgical Professionals – A
New Graduate Development Program

Diana Drinkwater
JK Tech, Australia
Nina Bianco
The University of Queensland, Australia

Abstract
As ore grades decline, ore deposits get harder and mineralogical complexity
increases, metallurgical skills are more important than ever to ensure
that today’s mining operations are operating efficiently and profitably. Yet
specialist undergraduate degree programs have all but disappeared and
metallurgical skills training for graduate enigneers in the workspace if
often haphazard.

In response to this situation, specialists at the JK Center in Queensland,

Australia, have put together a professional development program designed
to fast-track skills development for early career metallurgical professionals.
The program, called “MetSkill”, is offered as a group training package
for young metallurgists in the workplace. It is centered on a meaningful
technical investigation negotiated between the JK Center delivery team
and the client company. Alongside, learning about project management
and data collection and analysis, the participants study specialist topics
such as comminution, flotation and mineralogy under the tutelage of
senior research and consulting professionals. The technical investigation
provides an opportunity for immediate practice of these new skills and JK
Center specialists are on hand to provide feedback and support throughout
the program.

Developing Technical Excellence in Young Australian Metallurgical 117

Professionals – A New Graduate Development Program
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

The participants are employed across different operations in Australia and

the Asia-Pacific, and although they occasionally come together for group
training activities they are often separated by considerable distance.
Specialist educational professionals from The University of Queensland
have provided an innovative web platform to support collaboration and
communication between all participants.

This paper will describe the MetSkill program in detail, as well as provide a
report on its initial roll-out to two groups of Australian graduate metallurgists
in 2012.

Background
The modern mineral processing plant is a dynamic workplace where
performance is the subject of daily scrutiny. Professionals working in this
environment are generally young, energetic and self-motivated. They are
aware that they need to be able to assess complex technical situations and
make quick decisions, and this they do, often assisted by sophisticated
analytical tools.

As the Australian mining industry is expanding, there is a need to effectively

train more and more of these young professionals. Our educational
institutions are struggling to meet demands, and graduates from Engineering
and other technology based programs are commonly employed with little
or no exposure to the theoretical fundamentals of flotation, mineralogy,
comminution, etc. This can be rectified by on-the-job training for newcomers,
and in fact for decades this was a routine process, but in busy workplaces
in the 21st century providing experienced mentoring and support can be
difficult. The pressure this puts on the sector is well documented (WCP and
AusIMM, 2001; ADoITR, 2002, Duderstadt, 2005). A number of innovative
strategies are in place within the industry to address this situation (MCA,
2008; Sweet et al. 2006), and companies are working with training providers
around the globe to find more effective ways to deal with this situation.

This paper describes the MetSkill program, whose genesis can be traced
back to a number of sources including the AngloPlatinum graduate

118
development program described by Sweet et al. (2006) and graduate
development guidelines put in place in the 1970s and 1980s by companies
such as Mount Isa Mines, as well as the current guidelines by the AusIMM.

The aim of the MetSkill program is to give graduates an early experience

of a high quality metallurgical investigation, using best practice analytical
methodologies and appropriate tools, facilitated by experienced specialists.
The investigation is central to the learning experience, and for maximum
benefit it should have the potential to make a real improvement to
metallurgical performance.

The MetSkill Program

The best way to describe MetSkill is as a training package, delivered
jointly by the JKMRC and JK Tech. It is designed to fast-track professional
development of young metallurgists, especially specialist metallurgical
skills. The program is centered on a plant-based optimisation task. It
also includes workshops on key topics and ongoing facilitation via a
purpose-built web platform. Outcomes include successful completion of
the process optimization task but more importantly, development of a
“Community of Knowledge” within the organization and relationships with
technical specialists both within the company and externally.

The learning objectives are summarized as follows. On completion of the

program, the graduates should be able to successfully:
 Assess process plant data using fundamental metallurgical principles
and appropriately selected analytical tools
 Recommend a day-to-day operating strategy that demonstrates
knowledge of industry best practice for a selected area of plant
 Plan and execute a mineral processing plant survey
 Conduct a technically competent optimization study of a selected
area of plant demonstrating sound judgement and using appropriate
modelling software
 Apply mineralogical information from a variety of sources to a
metallurgical problem

Developing Technical Excellence in Young Australian Metallurgical 119

Professionals – A New Graduate Development Program
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

 Compose a written project report that demonstrates knowledge of

correct presentation of data for a selected audience
 Work productively on a technical project both as an individual and as
a team member

Implementation of the program requires commitment by the industry

partner to a one or two year program, and agreement on an appropriate
program of modules. Specific learning modules included in the package
are negotiated with clients, based on a model of “core” and “elective”
elements, as shown in Table 1.

Table 1: MetSkill Program Modules

Core Modules
1. Collecting good data, experimental design, survey methodology
2. Fundamentals of comminution, mineralogy, separation and ore testing
3. Facilitated plant survey
4. Sample analysis, mass balancing and modeling
5. Process optimization
Elective Modules
6. Process control
7. Sustainable processing
8. Flotation theory and JKSimFloat
9. Gravity processing
10. Gold leaching and recovery
11. Geo Metallurgy
12. Metallurgical accounting

Next, a draft schedule needs to be established and an appropriate site

must be selected for the technical investigation which forms the basis of the
program. Note that the investigation should be only very broadly defined,
as detailed scoping should be a part of the graduates’ initial activities when
they commence the program.

Generally no more than three or four graduates come from a single site,
so in addition to technical skills development, this program encourages
graduates to develop technical-based professional relationships with their
colleagues within the parent company.

120
The benefits to the client companies go well beyond educational and training
outcomes, as the investigation should provide high quality survey data for
a selected operation, allowing operational problems to be assessed and
solutions provided in-house. Owing to the involvement of a large group of
metallurgists, the technical knowledge developed is likely to stay in-house
for much longer than is often encountered with consultant-based technical
investigation.

Detailed Education Design

Underpinning learning model
The professional development model underpinning MetSkill is a small
collaborative group and is project-based model, that incorporates
mentoring to enhance its effectiveness (de Graaf and Kolmos, 2007),
MetSkill uses an authentic, work-situated project to develop the skills of
early-career metallurgists, who are supported and guided by experienced
metallurgists and consultants. The project is central to the learning and the
underpinning knowledge and collaborations are built around it.

Project-based learning has a long history of use in the world of Engineering.

It originated in northern Europe, in Engineering education in the 1970’s.
Project-based learning uses an authentic, defined, complex problem to
trigger the learning process. It is similar to problem-based learning in that
the “learning is organized around problems”(de Graaf and Kolmos, 2007).
In project-based learning, however, the problems are more structured and
there is a defined end-deliverable, for example, a report(de Graaf and
Kolmos, 2007). The participants are motivated to engage with the learning
by having an immediate work-situated problem to solve(de Graaf and
Kolmos, 2007). A project-based model of learning uses an experiential
learning or ‘learning through action’ approach.

A small-group, collaborative model was chosen for this program to situate

the learning within a supportive community. Face-to-face workshops bring
the participants (10–15 people) together at a mine site to work with each
other, and with senior metallurgists, to execute their project. Outside the
workshops, project collaboration and expert mentoring is supported by an
online project space.

Developing Technical Excellence in Young Australian Metallurgical 121

Professionals – A New Graduate Development Program
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

According to the research literature, guidance by workplace experts is a

key feature of successful workplace learning, “individuals need guidance
from experienced workers in the form of coaching and modeling that
focuses on transferring knowledge to new situations” (Barker, 2011). The
use of ongoing coaching or mentoring can also increase the effectiveness
of project-based models of learning. Mentoring is a particularly effective
way to support novices or beginning professionals and has been used
to provide support for professional development across a number of
professions (Hansford et al. 2005). This support has ranged from career
guidance to psychosocial support. In the MetSkill program, mentoring is
used to provide skill development, coaching, feedback and networking
opportunities.

The MetSkill learning model is made up of four main elements (see

Figure 1.):
 The project: This forms the focus of the learning. In MetSkill, the
project is to investigate an aspect of plant processing and make
recommendations for processing optimization. By undertaking this
project, the participants learn skills in applying key metallurgical tools
and methodologies to improve the quality of plant operating practice.
 Structured learning: This is in the form of face-to-face lectures in
a workshop format which provide the underpinning evidence-based
knowledge to support the project.
 Collaboration: This occurs as two conversations around the project.
One is between the early-career metallurgists who are collaborating
with each other on the project deliverables, the other occurs between
the teaching experts, project mentors and the early-career metallurgists,
where the experts and mentors provide project guidance and support
to the early-career metallurgists.
 Facilitation: The learning facilitator has an important role in
MetSkill. They have a macro-view of the whole program, its different
components and how they fit together. The facilitator is responsible
for coordinating the MetSkill program. They ensure that participants

122
 engage with learning, progressing their project deliverables and
achieve their project milestones. They are also responsible for
ensuring that experts and mentors understand their roles and are
engaged with the participants.

The delivery model for MetSkillis was blended. It combines face-to-face

workshops and activities, with online collaboration and mentoring.

Effective professional development principles

There is considerable agreement within the research literature and across
professions about what constitutes effective professional development.

Figure 1: The MetSkill Learning and Program Delivery Model

Learning Facilitator
Team
Participant
Teaching Project Collaboration
Participant
Experts Mentors
Participant

Structured
Learning
Project
Structured
Learning Planning Learning
Executing
Structured
Learning Evaluating

Structured
Learning

F-2-F
Delivery
Online

Developing Technical Excellence in Young Australian Metallurgical 123

Professionals – A New Graduate Development Program
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

MetSkill was designed using these best-practice, professional development

principles:
 Learning is ongoing and continuous (1-2 years), rather than one-off
“episodic updates of professional information delivered in a didactic
manner” (Webster-Wright, 2010). Professional learning is a long-term
process and effective professional development acknowledges this.
The MetSkill program was designed to allow the participants to build
metallurgical knowledge and skills over a one-two year period, by
executing a long-term project.
 Learning is situated within the work context and is related to authentic
work experiences. The most effective professional development occurs
within the workplace, when professionals engage with authentic work
experiences.The MetSkill program uses a work-based project that
allows early-career metallurgists to work on process optimization at a
nominated mine site.
 Learning is social and collaborative. According to the research literature,
“learning happens through social interaction and collaboration” (Barker,
2011). In MetSkill, participants work collaboratively, with each other
and with technical experts, to execute their project. This happens face-
to-face in the workshops and site visits, and online using a dedicated
web-space.
 Learning is learner-centered and self-directed. In MetSkill, early-
career metallurgists determine the specific project they will work on,
its planning and execution .
 Learning is active. MetSkill is an example of experiential learning,
where participants learn by doing. Access to expert, evidence-based
knowledge is underpinned by research. MetSkill is underpinned by the
latest research and by expert knowledge in mineral processing.

Effective professional learning also requires organizational leadership

and support. Organizational support for MetSkill was negotiated in the
initial planning phase and included time-off for participants to attend the
workshops, resources in the form of travel expenses, access to on-site
data, equipment and personnel and support for, and involvement in, the
program by management.

124
Online support
One of the features of MetSkill design was the online support. The MetSkill
website provided a flexible workspace where participants, experts and
mentors could continue to collaborate on their project when they were no
longer face-to-face. The website was designed to provide:
 An overview of the program and workshops, i.e. learning goals,
timeline, calendar of events, deliverables and teaching faculty
 A space for filing project data and deliverables
 A place where experts, mentors and participants could collaborate
with each other around the project (See Figure 2)
 A place where workshop resources could be stored and accessed

The project space was the focus of the website. It used a wiki tool for filing
project documents and facilitating participant communications about the
project.

The website was designed using success factors for online groups. These
were used to inform the design of the user interface, website structure,

Figure 2: Sample page from the MetSkill support website

Developing Technical Excellence in Young Australian Metallurgical 125

Professionals – A New Graduate Development Program
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

website content and access control.The design goal was to make explicit,
the people, content, structure and processes that are critical to group
success. Defining roles, responsibilities, communication pathways and
permissions to access website content, were areas that required particular
thought. The main challenge in designing the online support was predicting
how participants and others were going to use the website and their
preferred ways of communicating and accessing information.

The Journey So Far

In 2012 the MetSkill program was delivered to graduates at two Australian
based mining companies, MMG, whose graduate group comprises a total
of 11 from five different sites, and Newcrest mining, with 16 graduates
from six different locations. Each group had already undertaken a major
survey at one of their sites with the support of consultants and research
staff from the JKMRC and JK Tech, and is in the process of analysing
the results. In both cases, the survey outcomes exceeded expectations in
terms of data quality.

There are regular progress reports by the graduate groups to their own
management, as well as discussion of opportunities available within the
company to follow the current project with more activities. This is an
important part of the learning process, as it provides the opportunity for
graduates to embed newly learned skills into their everyday metallurgical
practice.

A large team of technical experts has supported the data collection and
analysis undertaken by graduates, drawn mostly from the JKMRC and
JKTech but also included some external specialists. This team provides
feedback and review on an ongoing basis, as well as provides specific
instruction on tools and methodologies. The experience has been a
rewarding one for many of these support staff, as many would not otherwise
have many of these kinds of opportunities to pass on their skills to a large
group of young professionals.

126
Evaluation
The framework that will be used to evaluate this program is based on
Kirkpatrick’s 4 levels of evaluation, i.e.:
 level 1- Learner satisfaction and engagement
 level 2- Learning outcomes
 level 3- Performance improvement
 level 4- Impact

Implementing and interpreting level 3 and 4 evaluation is challenging,

mostly due to ‘the difficulty of attributing any measurable changes to the
program’ Level 4 evaluation for MetSkill would ask the question, ‘has this
program impacted the performance of the plant at the local mine site of the
participant?’ Due of the complexity involved in answering this, only level
1-3 evaluation will be measured for this program.

Level 1 –How do the participants rate the quality and usefulness of their
learning experiences?

This will be measured for the program as a whole, and for all the main
elements of the learning program–II project, the structured learning, team
collaboration, mentoring, facilitation and online support. Questionnaires
will be administered to participants, teaching experts and project mentors
at three months and at the end of the program.

Level 2 – Did the participants acquire the intended knowledge and skills?

This will be measured by pre and post-tests, by self-assessed achievement

of workshop and program goals, and by the quality of the project end-
deliverables.

Level 3 - Have the participants transferred the new knowledge and skills
into their practice?

Both the degree and quality will be measured three-six months after program
completion, by structured interviews with the participants and their local mine site
manager. Questions about barriers to implementation will be included here.

Developing Technical Excellence in Young Australian Metallurgical 127

Professionals – A New Graduate Development Program
Minerals Industry: Education and Training

Future Directions
MetSkill is still a new and evolving program and there is plenty of scope for
streamlining of resources and fine-tuning of module content and schedules.
However, the greatest opportunities are in extending the reach of the
program by enhancing the capabilities of the supporting website, allowing
some of the workshop material and activities to be delivered remotely,
thereby providing access to larger or more remote groups of graduates.

There are also opportunities to apply this graduate development model

to other professional groups within and without the mining industry, and
JK Tech and The University of Queensland are actively exploring these
options with other groups of professionals. We may well be looking at
GeoSkill, EnviroSkill and Mining-Skill programs in the future.

References
 Australia. Dept. of Industry, Tourism and Resources, 2002. Mining
technology services action agenda : background paper on issues affecting
the sector, Dept. of Industry, Tourism and Resources, Canberra
 Barker, C, 2011. Embedding learning from formal training into
sustained behavioral change in the workplace, National Vocational
Education and Training Research and Evaluation Program Occasional
Paper,NCVER: Adelaide
 Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA, 2008, Submission to the
Review of Australian Higher Education, Discussion Paper
 deGraaff, E and Kolmos, A, 2007. Management of Change:
Implementation of Problem-Based and Project-Based Learning in
Engineering, 232 p (Sense Publishers: Rotterdam)
 Department of Education and Training, 2005. Professional learning in
effective schools:the seven principles of highly effective professional
learning, D.o.E.a. Training, Editor Office of Education: Melbourne
 Duderstadt, JJ, 2005. Engineering Research and America’s Future:
Meeting the Challenges of a Global Economy, University of Michigan
Millennium Project

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 Hansford, BC, Tennent, L, and L.C. Ehrich, LC, 2003. Educational
mentoring: is it worth the effort? Education Research and Perspectives.
30(1): p. 42-75
 Kirkpatrick, D, 1996, Great ideas revisited: Techniques for evaluating
training programs. T + D, 50(1): p. 54-54
 Minerals Council of Australia (MCA), 2008.Higher Education Review
Submission, Discussion Paper
 Munro PD, and Tilyard PA, 2009, Back to the future – why change
doesn’t necessarily mean progress, Tenth Mill Operators’ Conference,
Adelaide, South Australia
 Robinson L, Bianco N, Hendy R, Metcher J, 2011, A design pattern
language for effective professional development programs for
clinicians: A decade of design-based research. Design principles and
practice: an international journal. 5(4): p. 553-570
 Sweet CG, Sweet JA, Harris MC, Powell MS, Lambert AS &Knopjes
LM, 2006, Industry taking the initiative in developing high calibre
technical staff,Proceedings of XXIII International Mineral Processing
Congress, Istanbul, Turkey, 3-8 September
 Webster-Wright, A, 2010,Authentic professional learning: making a
difference through learning at work, ed. S. Billett, C. Harteis, and H.
Gruber. Vol. 2. 2010, Dordrecht: Springer
 World Competitive Practices & Australasian Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy & Australia. Dept. of Education, Training and Youth Affairs.
Evaluations and Investigations Program 2001. Rising to the challenge :
building professional staff capability in the Australian minerals industry
for the new century, report, Dept. of Education, Training and Youth
Affairs, Melbourne, Vic.

Developing Technical Excellence in Young Australian Metallurgical 129

Professionals – A New Graduate Development Program
The AGDP in 2012 – Nine Years of
Exceptional Graduate Training
J A Sweet, M C Harris and J-P Franzidis
Center for Minerals Research, University of Cape Town, South Africa

N Plint and J Tustin

Research and Development, Anglo American Platinum, South Africa

Abstract
The issues facing graduate training in the mineral processing industry
are not too different today from those that prompted the initiation of the
Anglo American Platinum Graduate Development Program (AGDP)
in 2002. Graduate metallurgists in South Africa enter the industry from
different undergraduate programs at various tertiary institutions, and
so the knowledge and skills of the young graduates varies. Further, the
geographical expansion of the industry combined with the downsizing of
business units means that there are fewer opportunities for young graduates
to be mentored through their first few years on site. Anglo American Platinum
chose to address these issues by implementing an intensive, structured
graduate training program for all their new metallurgical graduates, known
as the AGDP.

The first two years of experience of the AGDP, from the viewpoints of
both graduates and lecturers, were presented to the mineral processing
community at the IMPC in Turkey in 2006 (Sweet et al. 2006). From the
beginning, the program was structured in a modular fashion to include
a basic technical “toolbox” including statistics, the scientific method and
sampling protocols, while the mineral processing content comprised
advanced learning in comminution, classification and flotation (later
extended to include hydrometallurgy). Technical communication – both
written and verbal – was included from the start. The program was focussed
very strongly on site work (“learning by doing”), with a major integrated site
campaign conducted and analyzed by each cohort.

The AGDP in 2012 – Nine Years of Exceptional Graduate Training 131

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

In 2012, the AGDP will accept its ninth cohort into the program. This paper
describes how Anglo American Platinum and the University of Cape Town
have developed and adapted the program over the last few years, in
response to the challenges of the global recession, skills retention, and
the changing operational needs of the company. The program, which
was drawn up to accommodate around 15 concentrator-only graduates,
now accommodates 35-40 concentrator, smelter and refinery graduates
annually. The program has also been modified to facilitate new graduates
spending most of their first year on the operations. The benefits of the
program for Anglo American Platinum have been tangible, and will be
discussed in the paper.

Keywords: graduate training, technology transfer

Introduction
Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) has long recognized that graduates
entering the industry from different tertiary institutions have varying levels
of understanding of the technical aspects of its processing operations.
However, irrespective of whether the new employee has graduated from a
diploma-like curriculum with an experiential year or has a Metallurgical or
Chemical Engineering degree, once employed by Amplats each graduate
metallurgist has the same career prospects and the same performance
expectations. As the mine sites become geographically more spread out,
and the management structures become more streamlined, the availability
of experienced senior people with the ability to mentor the young graduates
through their early years on the operations reduces. These aspects together
led Amplats to approach the University of Cape Town (UCT) Center for
Minerals Research (CMR) to develop a program structured specifically to
meet their graduate training needs.

Continuous professional development is a key criterion for membership of

institutions such as the Engineering Council of South Africa. Registration
as a professional Engineer in South Africa requires one to attend at least
three days of relevant training per year (ECSA, 2005). However, there
is no stipulation that the training must be directed towards any specific

132
job-related skills or that the courses relate to each other. Indeed, there
is no requirement that attending these courses should change how one
approaches one’s day to day business. For a training program, success
is probably best measured by the perceptions of everyone involved – the
trainees, their immediate supervisors, the person who pays for the course,
the course presenters etc. This perception needs to be evaluated in terms
of the most important indicator of the success of the program: the extent
to which the trainee applies the principles they have been taught to the
benefit of their operation in the day to day practice of their profession.

In 2004, the first cohort of new graduates entered the Anglo American
Graduate Development Program (AGDP). Now in its ninth year the AGDP
has registered 177 graduates. The objective of this paper is to present how
the program has been adapted to meet the challenges facing the mineral
processing industry, while setting the standard for rapid technology transfer
and uptake of relevant research outcomes that can potentially redefine
industry best practice. The benefits to Anglo American Platinum which will
be presented here have been tangible and have been felt throughout the
company, even in some unexpected areas.

Background and History

The AGDP program was devised in 2003 to deliver mostly technical
training to concentrator metallurgical graduates. It was envisaged that the
program would not only further the engineering development of technical
graduates, but that it would also encourage independent study as a basis
for life-long learning and provide the basis for independent evaluation
of personal performance against clearly defined milestones. From the
company’s perspective, it was also seen as an excellent mechanism for
rapid technology transfer of the research outcomes from projects such as
the AMIRA P9 project, of which Amplats is a partner sponsor.

Participants’ Demographics
The diversity of the participants’ background and undergraduate education
and experience was noted by Sweet et al. (2006). Twelve South African

The AGDP in 2012 – Nine Years of Exceptional Graduate Training 133

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

tertiary institutions are represented in the nine cohorts that have entered
the program to date. Each cohort has had a different ratio of graduates
with a Bachelor of Science or Engineering (BSc or BEng) degree to those
with a Bachelor of Technology (BTech) degree in Extractive Metallurgy or
Chemical Engineering, as shown in Figure 1.

Most of the graduates who have attended the program were employed by
Amplats either directly after leaving school or in their first years of study,
and were offered study bursaries with an agreement that they would
join the company as graduate enigneers on completion of their degree.
Each year the number of bursaries awarded and the individuals to whom
they were awarded is determined based on future perceived operational
needs. It can be seen that for cohorts six and seven in particular, many
more graduates were employed from the universities of technology than
from the traditional universities. This was in response to the company’s
expansion plans – the largest single stream platinum concentrator was
commissioned in South Africa in 2009, and another concentrator was

Figure 1: Particpants’ previous qualifications

40

35

30

25
Number

20

15

10

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
(2004) (2005) (2006) (2007) (2008) (2009) (2010) (2011) (2012)

B. Sc. B. Tech. Other

134
commissioned in Zimbabwe in 2010. Graduates from the technical
universities significantly outnumber those from traditional universities and
as such constitute a ready market when expansion plans need staffing
in a hurry. Amplats also gives bursars a choice of tertiary institution at
which to study and historically disadvantaged groups in South Africa often
choose technical universities for a variety of reasons, not least of which
is that history has seen the alumni of these institutions climb to the top of
the ladder in the major mining houses. In recent years and notably since
2009, it has become clear that the practical focus of the BTech curriculum
is not ideal preparation for an intensive technical program like the AGDP.
Amplats has thus changed its approach with regard to where its bursars
study such that the majority now studies at traditional universities, to the
extent that 77% of graduates enrolled on AGDP in 2011 and 2012 came
from the five such universities in South Africa.

Program Structure
In 2006 the initial structure of the program was presented (Sweet et al.
2006) as summarized in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Schematic of the basic AGDP program structure

Technical
Specialist

Basic Technical
Courses

Foundation Courses

Prerequisites/Experience

The AGDP in 2012 – Nine Years of Exceptional Graduate Training 135

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

The program was conducted over a two year period, with contact time
being the equivalent to that of a taught Master’s degree in Science or
Engineering. Foundation courses were built on the undergraduate
education and experience of the graduates. Technical courses consisted
of comminution and flotation, which progressed from relatively basic
introductory material to more complex analysis of survey data, including
the use of state-of-the-art simulators such as JKSimMet and JKSimFloat.
Should the candidate have the necessary undergraduate qualification,
the ability and desire, as well as the blessing from their operation, they
could then register for a Master’s degree using the credits collected and
complete a short thesis.

Each cohort has presented its own challenges, from changing class
size and composition to the calendar having to accommodate plant
commissioning or other operational requirements. It was decided early
in the program to solicit feedback from the graduates and the mine sites
where they were posted in order to gauge the perceived effectiveness of
the program, as well as to fine-tune the delivery to remain as relevant as
possible. Amplats commissioned Professor Jenni Case of UCT’s Center
for Research in Engineering Education to evaluate the program from the
perspective of the graduates’ perceptions as well as actual events and the
cultural and social structures of South Africa. Many of the findings of her
four reports (Case, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010) were incorporated into the
program structure to address some of the issues raised. The progression
of the structure from that presented in 2006 to its present form is discussed
in the following paragraphs.

Progression of Program Structure

The first major change to the basic structure presented in 2006 and shown
in Figure 3 was the splitting of the courses into first year and second year
modules. All technical graduates took the foundation courses in the first
year, and participated in the structured practical exercises. At the end of the
first year, the graduate class was divided into “Concentrators”, “Smelters”
and “Refineries” streams for a mineral processing, pyrometallurgy or
hydrometallurgy specialization in the second year.

136
It was recognized that not all graduates were able to cope with the
advanced material presented in the second year. An academic criterion
was imposed, that only graduates who had obtained an aggregate of 65%
or more in the basic technical courses were allowed to progress to the
second year.

One of the issues faced by the graduates was being able to balance
their AGDP commitments with their site responsibilities, especially in the
first year when they were still becoming acquainted with the operations.
Therefore another change to the program structure from 2010 was to
spread the first year over two years. Communication, Essential Tools and
the Conceptual Framework were taught in the first year. The introductory
level technical courses and the practical site work were undertaken in their
second year, with the proposal being to complete the advanced technical
material in the third year.

Figure 3: AGDP detailed structure as presented in 2006 (Sweet et al.)

Conceptual Framework of
Mineral Beneficiation Accredited post
graduate level courses

Essential Technical Non accredited courses aimed

Tools at a broad audience

Adv Technical
Communication

Adv Technical Intro to Adv

Intro to...
Communication Flotation

Adv
Communication I Adv Flotation I Adv ... I

Adv
Communication II Adv Flotation II Adv ... I

Integrated Analysis of
Mineral Beneficiation
Systems

The AGDP in 2012 – Nine Years of Exceptional Graduate Training 137

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

While this change was in response to requests by both Amplats and the
graduates, when implemented it was met with unhappiness from the
graduates at it essentially delayed their completion of the program (linked
to internal promotion) by a year. So a further adjustment has been proposed
that necessitates a change to the scope of the content delivered. In its
new form, the first year will still contain the foundation courses mentioned
above. To this, basic generic courses related to concentrator, smelter and
refinery operations will be added. Thus, by the end of the first year all
graduates will have a basic working knowledge of all processing steps in
the company. They will then be streamed into the three functional groups
for the second year. This revised structure is presented in Figure 4 and
Figure 5.

Details of the foundation courses and technical modules and the specifics
of how they have been adapted is presented in the following sections.

Figure 4: Foundation courses in 2012/2013

Conceptual Framework of
Minerals Beneficiation

Technical
Communication

Essential
Technical Tools

Introduction Introduction Introduction

to to to
Concentrators Smelters Refineries

138
Figure 5: Technical courses in 2012/2013

Comminution Flotation

Integrated
Sampling
Survey

Analysis (incl intro to JKSimMet,

JKSimFloat)

Course Outlines
Foundation courses
The structure shown in Figure 4 incorporates generic foundation courses
– Essential Technical Tools (statistics – presented by Professor Tim
Napier-Munn of JKTech, the scientific method, sampling theory and
practice), Technical Communication (written and verbal) and a Conceptual
Framework of Minerals Beneficiation. The latter course is intended to
introduce the graduates to the company, in the context of the broader
mineral processing industry nationally and globally. The specific drivers
and constraints of platinum production from exploration and mining
through to marketing and sale of final products are examined in a series
of focussed contact sessions and assignments. The graduates visit an
underground mine, a concentrator, a smelter and the base and precious
metals refineries and these visits, in conjunction with written material such
as the Amplats annual report and the Johnson Matthey Platinum Metals
Review (2012), form the research material for their assignments.

The AGDP in 2012 – Nine Years of Exceptional Graduate Training 139

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

In 2012, the ninth cohort of graduates will all be exposed to generic courses
related to the three primary processing steps – concentrating, smelting
and refining of metals. The aim of these modules is to ensure that every
graduate metallurgist has a basic working knowledge of each process unit
so that they are not prematurely consigned to a particular process but can
be utilized where the operational needs are greatest.

Basic Technical Courses

Basic technical courses build on the foundation laid by the introductory
modules. Technical courses were initially limited to comminution and
flotation; hydrometallurgy was introduced in 2008. The technical courses
offered in 2012 are shown in Figure 5. In addition to these, Amplats provides
the graduates with in-house technical courses on topics such as process
mineralogy and pyrometallurgy (presented by the University of Pretoria).

Progression of technical courses

The standard technical content as described in Sweet et al. (2006)
has evolved from year to year to suit the dynamics of each cohort and
the operational needs of the company. In 2004 and 2005 the program
was structured to include site visits and other practical experiments in
combination with classroom time. However, the large numbers of graduates
in cohort the 2005 cohort drove the convenors to consider alternative
options for the practical aspects of the training. From 2007 onwards an
integrated site survey is conducted during the month of July of the first year.
Each year a site is nominated by Amplats and a specific set of objectives
and goals is set by the site operations management. A survey protocol and
work program is then designed by the graduates to meet these objectives.
The work program is interspersed with seminars on material coherent with
the objectives, or related to technical constraints and drivers of the specific
operation. Each graduate is trained to understand and use the latest
generation of state-of-the-art measurement devices and sensors. They
also process all samples generated by the survey campaigns themselves
– filtering, drying, splitting, bagging and labelling all samples for dispatch
to the analytical laboratories. This “Winter School” approach has proved
very successful in terms of maintaining engagement of a large group for a
sustained period while addressing real plant issues.

140
Up to 2009, preliminary analysis of the data obtained from the Winter
School surveys was conducted during the latter modules of the first year
Comminution and Flotation courses. Graduates who progressed to the
second year in the “Concentrator” stream were able to engage with the
data again in the context of a more in-depth analysis of the operating
parameters of the equipment and the efficiencies of the various parts of
the circuit, as described in the next section.

Integrated Analysis of Mineral Beneficiation

Until 2010, the second year Comminution and Flotation courses were
followed by an integrated analysis of the comminution and flotation circuits.
The integrated analysis course was comprised of a series of workshops
concentrating on analysing data collected during the course of the program
in order to address the specific issue raised by the Winter School site.
For example, one site wanted to increase throughput by 20 % and the
task of the AGDP graduates was to recommend how the plant should be
configured to maximize the returns from this increase. The design capacity
of all parts of the circuit was considered, and survey data was used in
conjunction with simulation and historic operating data to determine where
the bottlenecks were likely to be and what mitigating factors could be
employed. Feedback to the site was in the form of written reports and oral
presentations – either done as a pair or individually.

As this module was the culmination of two years of intensive training, the
graduates were expected to rise to the challenge and use all the tools
at their disposal effectively. The integrated analysis was designed to test
not only their technical skills but also their ability to work under pressure
and in groups, and to use the communication skills taught throughout the
program. The final deliverable was a presentation to the Amplats executive
on the findings and recommendations for improvements based on the
challenges set at the time of the survey.

Owing to the adaptation of the program to allow the first year graduates
more time on the operations, the basic technical content and the advanced
second year material have been re-evaluated in order to have fit-for-purpose
comminution and flotation courses that cover the basics as well as some

The AGDP in 2012 – Nine Years of Exceptional Graduate Training 141

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

advanced material. Therefore a hybrid second year is currently presented

(Figure 5) that does not include a stand-alone integrated analysis course.
Instead, the distillation of integrated outcomes from the data gathered
during the program is now undertaken as a more abbreviated exercise
within the individual comminution and flotation courses. This compromise
was necessary to ensure the sustainability of the program, effectively
halving the time devoted to this outcome of the course. It remains to be
seen whether this change can meet the high expectation of management
created by the previous model, but the performance of the first cohort
under the new program in 2011 has been very encouraging.

Benefits to Anglo American Platinum

Amplats instigated the AGDP to provide their operations with skilled
technical staff with a consistent and sound approach to optimisation and
daily production management using industry best practice. It was clearly
recognized that the benefits to the company would be felt tangibly as the
plants became staffed with more and more AGDP alumni. Further, the close
attention paid by a cohort to their Winter School site – from the survey itself
through the preliminary data analysis stage and finally the recommendations
presented to the executive – were practically guaranteed to highlight
strategies for improvement of that particular site. A less obvious but equally
important benefit has been the effect of the AGDP on the retention of
graduates at Anglo American Platinum, which is discussed below.

Retention of Graduates
The number of graduates who leave the company has steadily been
decreasing, as can be seen in Figure 6 which presents the percentage and
number of each cohort who have resigned from the company as of March
2012. It can be argued that the trend is purely time based – the longer the
graduates have been in the company the greater the chance that they would
leave. Certainly the commodities boom of 2007 and early 2008 played an
important role, with several graduates moving to Australia to take up positions
in the mining industry there. However, the graph does not show that, of the first
two cohorts in 2004 and 2005, the majority of graduates who left the company

142
did so either before completion or in the year directly after completion of the
program. Therefore the reduction from 67% of Cohort 1 to 27% of Cohort 5
– who have been alumni for just over two years now – is highly significant. In
terms of total numbers, 72% of the 177 graduate metallurgists employed by
Amplats since 2004 remain in the company. 18 of the 177 did not complete
the program, and 13 of these have left the company.

It is also interesting to note that in 2006 and 2007 when the industry
globally was experiencing a major commodity boom, the percentage of
graduates who left was still lower than in the preceding two years. The
Global Financial Crisis of 2008/2009 certainly had the effect of slowing
down the rate of attrition, almost to a standstill in 2010 although with a
slight increase in 2011, but is hard to state with any certainty what the real
effect has been. The creation of the AGDP in 2004 and the absorption by
the company of 125 graduate metallurgists that remain employed by the
company has done at least two things:

Figure 6: Percentage and number of graduates from each cohort

that have resigned per annum to September 2012

10 2.5
% of cohort resigned per annum by 2012

Percentage
9
Number of cohort resigned per

Number
8 2
7
annum by 2012

6 1.5
5
%

4 1
3
2 0.5
1
0 0
(2004)

(2005)

(2006)

(2007)

(2008)

(2009)

(2010)

(2012)
(2011)
1

The AGDP in 2012 – Nine Years of Exceptional Graduate Training 143

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

(a) It has created a very young junior and middle management team in the
Amplats Process Division
(b) It has, as a consequence of (a) created a sense of frustration among
the AGDP alumni who have yet to achieve a promotion – 12 of 31
graduates that exited AGDP between 2006 and 2009 (cohorts 1 to 4)
have yet to be promoted above their entry level of Patterson D2.

Simultaneously, Amplats undertook minor restructuring in its process

operations to maximize the benefits to be derived from employing a
significant number of metallurgists. This restructuring led to the creation
of several technical and operational management positions and allowed
AGDP alumni from the early cohorts to apply and be appointed. This almost
certainly has a positive effect on retention as graduates saw promotional
prospects that were previously missing, but also added frustration as
graduates from later cohorts overtook those from earlier cohorts. While
decisions to promote are merit based, the effect of being overtaken cannot
be underestimated especially in a population of AGDP alumni that rightfully
has high expectations for success.

The global economic slowdown has prevented many of the frustrated

individuals from leaving the company – Amplats pays well and matching or
improved offers are few and far between. Most of the thus far unpromoted
metallurgists are also not candidates for emigration which has been an
option for several of their peers. It remains to be seen what happens when
the global economy shows real signs of recovery but it seems inevitable
that there will be a spike in the attrition rate as dis-spirited individuals seek
out better prospects elsewhere, inside or outside of the mining industry.
It is not known how many of the graduates who have left Amplats are still
working in the metallurgical industry in South Africa. However, the authors
often come into contact with alumni working in the industry for other
mining houses or for one of the many engineering design firms based in
Johannesburg. Therefore the substantial investment in training by Anglo
American Platinum has benefited the industry in the country as a whole.

At Amplats the graduate training program (AGDP) is funded and

administrator through the R&D department, not via the training or human

144
resources development structures. This conscious decision ensures
that the program can be influenced directly by operational needs while
delivering relevant, topical research outcomes which offer the potential to
become part of industry best practice.

Improvements to Operations
Several significant interventions have been possible owing to the
concentrated efforts of the AGDP graduates and UCT trainers, the
goodwill and assistance of the Winter School sites and the beneficence of
the Amplats program managers. Indirect benefits have also been realized,
and these will be discussed first.

Survey sampling protocol

The first integrated surveys with cohorts1 and 2 were planned and executed
by UCT and the graduates in accordance with the Amplats standard survey
protocol. This protocol had evolved to performing triplicate surveys in as
short a time frame as possible in order to be able to quantify the standard
deviation of each process stream sampled. For a reasonably steady plant,
this is possible to achieve without too much difficulty. However, triplicate
surveys mean three times the number of samples to be prepared and
assayed (the survey done with cohort 1 generated nearly 2000 samples
for further analysis). In addition, for a plant that is in constant flux it is
impossible to find a window of opportunity that complies with the underlying
requirements of steady state. Cohort 2 were not able to complete a full
survey of the nominated site as variations in operating conditions were too
great at any given time to meet the steady state requirements.

The learnings from these two surveys were taken back to the Amplats
technical management team and led to their adjusting the standard
survey protocol to suit the conditions found on site, while still complying
with the basic statistical sampling requirements. This has led in turn
to the financial cost of surveys being substantially reduced, the turn-
around time of assays from the analytical laboratories being reduced and
feedback to the site occurring in a time frame that allows the findings to
still be relevant, without compromising the integrity of the data collected.

The AGDP in 2012 – Nine Years of Exceptional Graduate Training 145

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

This outcome has massively influenced the buy-in of the operations to

the value of the program (beyond its obvious training objectives), and
has led to competition between sites to host the AGDP Winter School,
rather than seeing it as an intrusion to their day-to-day operation (which
is often the case when site work is primarily motivated and managed by
head office). This buy-in and support from the site in turn amplifies the
quality of both the training and outcomes, in a virtuous feed-back loop.

Mass pull control

Cohorts 3 and 4 conducted surveys six months apart on an operation
that had recently been commissioned, treating a new ore from a different
part of the reef. From the complete circuit survey and subsequent mass
balance done by cohort 3, it was possible to determine the volumetric
flows in all parts of the flotation circuit. It became evident that the rougher
concentrate sumps, pumps and pipe lines were oversized for the mass pull
of the rougher circuit. This led to the pumps cavitating, causing unstable
feed to the cleaner circuit, reduced mineral recoveries and inconsistent
product quality.

Based on the evidence of the graduates’ survey, the oversized

equipment was replaced prior to the visit to site by the fourth cohort.
Improved plant stability allowed cohort 4 to conduct tests on both the
rougher and cleaner circuits in order to quantify how the mass pull
changed as the operators adjusted the air flow rates and pulp levels.
This information was fed back to the process control department who
worked together with the site metallurgists to implement a robust mass
pull control strategy to maximize mineral recovery without impacting on
product quality.

Reduced steel ball consumption

Cohort 5 performed their integrated Winter School surveys on the same
operation as cohort 1. The concentrator plant consists of a primary Run-
of-Mine (RoM) ball mill followed by rougher flotation. Rougher tailings are
reground in a secondary ball mill, which is followed by another flotation
stage. The survey data was analyzed on a size by size basis, and detailed
mineralogical information was collected on selected streams in the milling

146
and flotation circuits. In addition, all the necessary equipment parameters
were measured in order to develop a full circuit model of the comminution
and flotation circuits.

The comminution circuit models were implemented in JKSimMet which

allowed the graduates to simulate the circuits under varying operating
conditions. As part of the integrated analysis they analyzed historic
plant data which they used in conjunction with the JKSimMet models to
conclude that the plant could reduce the ball load in the primary RoM mill
without affecting the downstream flotation response. This would not only
reduce the energy consumption of the RoM mill but would also result in a
significant reduction in steel media wear. Steel balls and power represent
two of the largest expenses for a concentrator plant, in addition to being
the largest contributors to the carbon footprint of the operation (Le Nauze
and Temos, 2002); therefore the savings that the site achieved when
this recommendation was implemented successfully contributed to the
sustainability of the operation as a whole.

Improved mineral recovery

The largest single stream platinum concentrator in the world was surveyed
by cohorts 6 and 7, 18 months apart. The first survey was conducted
soon after the plant was commissioned and laid the foundation for post-
commissioning optimisation, including the installation of IsaMillTM technology
in both Mainstream Inert Grinding (MIG) and Ultrafine Concentrate Grinding
(UFG) applications (Rule, 2011). The full circuit survey was used as a
basis for the subsequent work done by cohort seven, who were tasked
with improving the flotation recovery of the circuit by at least five percent.

Measurements done on the primary rougher cells using the Anglo

Platinum Bubble Sizer indicated that the gas dispersion of the cells was
poor. Further investigation revealed that the ore possessed some altered
silicate minerals which affected the rheological properties of the slurry
causing it to become very viscous at relatively low solids concentrations.
This was hampering the ability of the cell mechanisms to disperse gas,
and subsequently reducing the flotation recovery. Diluting the feed slurry

The AGDP in 2012 – Nine Years of Exceptional Graduate Training 147

Minerals Industry: Education and Training

with water dropped the viscosity sufficiently to improve gas dispersion,

and the flotation recovery increased by over 10%.

Conclusions
In the nine years of its existence the technical graduate training program at
Anglo American Platinum has earned its reputation for delivery of confident
and competent metallurgists for their operations. It has adapted to the local
and global environment to remain relevant and to ensure its sustainability
for the future. Finally, the rapid technology transfer of industry best practice
through the training program has led to measureable improvements to the
operations, which more than support the substantial investment of time,
effort and funding made by Anglo American Platinum.

Acknowledgements
The continued support of the Anglo American Platinum operations and
management team is gratefully acknowledged. The staff of the Center
for Minerals Research at UCT who regularly spend weeks at site to train
the graduates and to assist with Winter School surveys is also greatly
appreciated.

148
References
 Case, J, 2007. Evaluation of learning outcomes of the Anglo
Platinum Graduate Development Program, University of Cape Town
(unpublished)

 Case, J, 2008. Follow-up evaluation of learning on theAnglo

Platinum Graduate Development Program, University of Cape Town
(unpublished)

 Case, J, 2009. Further follow-up evaluation of learning on theAnglo

Platinum Graduate Development Program, University of Cape Town
(unpublished)

 Case, J, 2010. Fourth evaluation of learning on theAnglo Platinum

Graduate Development Program, University of Cape Town
(unpublished)

 Engineering Council of South Africa, 2005. Policy on Continuing

Professional Development, [online]. Available from: <http://www.ecsa.
co.za/documents/CPD_Policy_30_Nov_2007.pdf> [Accessed 20
January 2012]
 Johnson Matthey plc, 2012. Platinum Metals Review, Vol 56 Issue
1 [online], Available from <http://www.platinummetalsreview.com/
journal-archive> [Accessed 26 March 2012]

 Le Nauze, RD and Temos, J, 2002. Technologies for Sustainable

Operations, in Proceedings CMMI Congress 2002, pp 27-33, (Cairns)

 Rule, C, 2011. Stirred milling at Anglo American Platinum, in Proceedings

5th International Conference on Autogenous and Semiautogenous
Grinding Technology [CD ROM],paper 89 (SAG 2011:Vancouver)

 Sweet, CG, Sweet, JA, Harris, MC, Powell, MS, Lambert, AS,
Charlesworth, P, Knopjes, LM, 2006. Industry taking the initiative in
developing high calibre technical staff, in Proceedings of the XXIV
International Mineral Processing Congress 2006, pp 2055-2059
(IMPC 2006: Istanbul)

The AGDP in 2012 – Nine Years of Exceptional Graduate Training 149

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Minerals Industry: Education and Training
Minerals Industry
Education and Training

Cilliers, Drinkwater, Heiskanen

Editors:
Jan Cilliers
Diana Drinkwater
Kari Heiskanen