What is Mining Engineering?
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an orebody, lode, vein, seam, reef or placer deposit. These form a mineral deposit that is of economic interest to the mining companies.
Australia has a booming mining industry and is a lead exporter of many natural resources such as gold, uranium, aluminium, lead, iron ore and coal. Mining is an exciting career choice with many diverse challenges but with a rewarding outcome.
Many items used in our daily lives such as your smart phone, to even medical equipment, are manufactured using minerals and with more demands for energy, there is an increased need for Mining Engineers.
Mining Engineers focus on sustainable recovery, planning, processing, marketing and financial management of mineral resources. Fundamental engineering principles and their application to complex mining systems play a large role in this career. Modern mining engineers rely on technical skills in areas such as geology and mineral economics, geomechanics, mine design and planning, automation, data analytics, technology integration and protection of our environments to achieve safe and productive sustainable mining practices.
Study areas
- Geotechnical Engineering
- Mine Design and Planning
- Management and Sustainability
- Mining Systems
- Mining Technologies
- Rock Breakage
- Mine Ventilation
Career outcomes
Contribute to sustainably resourcing our future. You can work in areas such as minerals and energy resources exploration, drilling, sustainability and environmental consulting, project management, and management consulting in the mining or energy sectors.
Student profiles
Hear what our current students have to say about Mining Engineering:
