Questions For Mining Engineers and others in the Mining Industry

[lolerskater]

Hello, I am thinking of a career as a Mining engineerand I have a few question for people in this field.

I know that mining is a cyclical industry that depends on the price of commodities. How is the demand for graduates now compared to last year and what do you think the prospects are going to be for graduates in the years to come?

what happens if North America and Europe enter a deeper recession that lasts for the next decade? are the Asian and the developing markets enough for the mining industry?

What is career growth like? how easy is it to advance to upper management position?

Would it be better to have a civil engineering degree with a focus on mining rather than a mining engineering degree? Since mining is such a specialed degree.


thats all for now. :cheesygri

[Goldbugger]

It's definitely a cyclical industry. It was common for mining engineer grads from last year and the few years before to have multiple job offers months before graduating. But if you were unfortunate enough to graduate this year, you may have had your one offer pulled back. I heard (~2 years ago) mining engineers and geologists, on average, were the top paid for the first year out of school.

As for the years to come, I'm not expecting a world economic recovery. I do expect certain commodities to do well despite the economy but I'm not yet sure about others. So it's hard to say what the demand for grads will be like.

Student enrollment has increased over the past few years. I suggest checking out if enrollment is dropping. If so, less competition.

If you're going to the industry, you have to be willing to work in the boonies or working shifts like 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off (FIFO or fly in fly out of main cities). There's opportunities in the big cities as well but you'll probably want a bit of hands on experience first. So, if you know that's what you want to do then just go for it. It will be easier to get scholarships if you go straight for the mining engineer program because the class size is so small. The tiny class sizes are another benefit.

Imo, career growth prospects are excellent. Networking is crucial, though.

You have the opportunity to work in the middle of nowhere, all around the world, for good money :D