A mine of opportunities

Mining engineering involves the integrated application of multiple scientific and engineering disciplines for extracting natural materials from the Earth’s crust

The National Mineral Policy-2008 has stressed the need for establishing appropriate educational and training facilities for human resource development to meet the manpower requirements of the mining industry.

It notes that more mining engineers along with geologists, geo-physicists, geo-chemists and geo-instrumentation specialists are needed in the wake of the expansion of the country’s mining sector.

Mining engineering involves the integrated application of multiple scientific and engineering disciplines for extracting natural materials from the Earth’s crust.

Engineering principles

It involves applying engineering principles for the development, planning, operation, closure and reclamation of mines.

Mining engineers make use of scientific theories, engineering principles and the latest technologies to discover and recover the abundant natural resources profitably.

Indian School of Mines

The Indian School of Mines Dhanbad (ISM) is a premier institution offering courses in mining engineering and related disciplines in the country. It offers a four-year B.Tech. course in mining engineering.

Other B.Tech. courses related to mining engineering offered by ISM include petroleum engineering (refers to subsurface engineering activities related to the production of hydrocarbons), mineral engineering (deals with processes by which extracted ore is reduced to particles that can be separated into mineral and waste and the handling of ores, minerals and coal) and mining machinery engineering (deals with mechanical and electrical engineering aspects of various mining machines deployed at the underground and open cast mines in coal and non-coal sectors).

Five-year dual degree programmes offered by ISM include B.Tech. mining engineering plus MBA; B.Tech. mining engineering plus M.Tech. mining engineering; B.Tech. petroleum engineering plus M.Tech. petroleum management; B.Tech. mineral engineering plus M.Tech. mineral resource management; and B.Tech. mineral engineering plus M.Tech. materials technology.

The mining engineering department of ISM also offers M.Tech. in mining engineering; mine planning and design; open cast mining; and rock excavation engineering and ME in geomatics and underground space technology. Other departments offer M.Tech. in petroleum engineering; mineral engineering; and petroleum exploration and mining machinery engineering.

Admission

Admission to the B.Tech. and M.Tech. programmes is through the Indian Institute of Technology-Joint Entrance Examination (IIT-JEEE) and through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering or written test and interview for Ph.D. programmes.

Other Institutes

Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), offers B.Tech. in mining engineering (admission through IIT-JEE) and M.Tech. in mine environment; mine planning; and rock mechanics (admission through GATE score). Admission to doctoral programmes will be for those who have qualified the National Eligibility Test or GATE and through the Research Entrance Test of BHU.

The Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur offers B.Tech. and M.Tech. programmes in mining engineering.

The National Institute of Technology (NIT) Suratkal offers B.Tech., M.Tech. and Ph.D. programmes in mining. NIT Rourkela offers B.Tech. mining engineering while NIT Nagpur offers B.Tech., M.Tech and Ph.D. programmes in mining engineering.

Bengal Engineering College and College of Engineering, Anna University, Guindy, are some of the other reputed institutes offering mining engineering courses in the country.

(The list of institutes mentioned here is indicative and not exhaustive.)

Job opportunities

Harsha Vardhan, assistant professor at the department of mining engineering, National Institute of Technology Suratkal, told The Hindu Education Plus over phone, that while male mining engineering graduates find jobs in the production section, female students are usually employed in the planning section.

The employment scenario is brighter with the boom in the economy.

Mining engineering graduates also find jobs in Gulf countries, he said.

Mining engineers find employment opportunities both in government and private sector.
Companies like the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC); Coal India; Geological Survey of India; HCL; IPCL; Neyvelli Lignite Corporation; National Aluminium Company Limited (NALCO); TISCO; TELCO; Reliance; and multi-national companies like British Gas and Schlumberger recruit mining engineering graduates.

At the entry level, they will be appointed as mine managers, ventilation officers, safety officers, analysts or assistant metallurgists.

Later, they may rise to senior executive positions.