Mining Engineering and Applied Maths Double (1 Viewer)

[nimrod_dookie]

Hi,

I've just finished the 1st year of my Mining Engineering degree at Adelaide Uni and I have the opportunity to do a double degree with Maths and Comp Sci with a major in Applied Maths which would add an extra year to my degree.

I'm not overly concerned about whether I have the aptitude to pursue this degree but whether it is useful within the mining industry. I'm doing mining because I'm genuinely interested in it, the money is a sheer bonus and I'm particularly interested in geostatistics and resource/reserve evalulation. Would an Applied Maths degree assist in getting jobs in this field or would it be more beneficial to just do the single degree because an extra year in the mines would be more worthwhile?

I am particuarly hoping to hear from anyone who has had work experience at various mines.

Thanks in advance

 

[nimrod_dookie]

Cheers Miner. That was really insightful. Do you know anything about the other mining education considerations slated for 2010?

 

[nimrod_dookie]

Cool, if Plimer is looking at the metallurgy degree, it would explain why we visit the Nyrstar Lead Smelter as part of the mining field trip. I knew about the Mineral Geoscience degree for next year and a Petroleum double with Mining starts next year. I was leaning towards the Geostatistics part cause the resource and reserve estimation along with mine planning was the most interesting part of the field trip for me. Though Plimer always makes it difficult to find a distinct pathway because everything he speaks about is always interesting, I love his lectures/mining trip debriefs!

 

[nimrod_dookie]

Yeah he is definitely a passionate man about many things. I had to laugh because I took my youngest brother to the uni openday and at one point in the conversation went to say something along the lines of "we'll have to pray that happens" whatever it was, and then had to check myself from finishing the sentence knowing Plimer's stance on all things religious. So glad he acknowledged that I was just using a turn of phrase because I wasn't into getting a lecture on the evils of religion. LOL

As for visiting Nystar, mineral processing is an important part of the mining industry (Olympic Dam has their own refinery as I'm certain you would know by now) and the Nystar Refinery is a prime example of the environmental damage that can result from refining, as is the red city of Whyalla. That made it a valid stop on it's own, plus it allowed a break before hitting the long road to Prominent Hill. I know a few of the students who were first year in that course this year and all of them are planning on taking the Minerals Processing electives later in the course, that's providing they manage to pass Dynamics somehow.

Just out of interest how difficult did you find it transfer in to the course. Only asking because the youngest brother is planning a gap year this year because he really wants to do metallurgy (that's how I came to be told about the course) and he didn't take Specialist Maths because it isn't an option where we live, so he can't apply to take Chemical Engineering directly at Adelaide and is looking to take Petro/Chem just to pathway to Chem. Hopefully the new metallurgy course will get up and it won't be an issue, but for now it is an issue.

I had no problems because I was in a Law/Commerce double (felt pressure to do it, originally had mining as my first pref) and only did a semester, so I could still use my TER and since it was 96, I had no dramas. Yeah, I'm in first year with those guys you are referring too and I am also interested in the minerals processing course. My timetable has been a mixture of first and second year courses cause I did mid year entry. OMG Prominent Hill was awesome. Great atmosphere and I loved seeing the open pit. Definitely true about the environmental impact though, I guess that will be a future task for mining engineers and metallurgists alike. Though Project Magnet will definitely reduce Whyalla's dust problem since magnetite doesnt produce the red dust like haematite.

LOL about Plimer and religion. I heard that someone in a lecture (I think a geology lecture for chem engineers) got offended by his stance on religion and showed him a bible which Plimer promptly tore but that may just be a wild story though.

Search for Ian Plimer on YouTube, hilarious video of him debating with Duane Gish (famous creationist).

 

[nimrod_dookie]

True, cause it wasn't really hot up at PH the day we were there. My mum used to live in Oodnadatta so I know to expect 50 degree days and floods and all that. OD was a little disappointing cause we didn't get off the bus but I do see the benefits of OD, especially if you want a family at some point (which I do). BHP Billiton just aren't in my good books currently considering some of the second year scholarship winners have failed subjects continously since their first semester of uni, yet my uni scholarship got cut cause I changed degrees (I know that's not BHP Billiton's fault) but I know second year students who received smaller scholarships to the BHP Billiton ones, despite having better TER's than those who received scholarships from BHP and have outperformed the BHP scholarship recipients. However, having said that, it is aminor issue and if I was offered any opportunity with BHP (or any mining company), I'd snap it up straight away.

 

[nimrod_dookie]

Yep, they have some strange system in place this year as well. Not sure whether its true or not but I heard on the grapevine that one of the first years on scholarship with them this year, turned down the opportunity to do vac work with them so he could stay home and ride the motorbike he bought with his scholarship cheque. What a bloody idiot. He obviously didn't need the money in the first place, nor is he the type that is likely to suceed in the industry long term. He could have earned enough in the holdidays to gain Independent status for youth allowance, would have had networking opportunities to die for, and they offered him the town camp for accomodation rather than the camp out of town.

The TERs supposedly aren't what matters to BHP, they are after a type of person rather than a result. I went to Roxby Downs Area School for a few years and believe me, every school award that was won was anchored in who you were and not what you achieved. If you were a contractors kid rather than (in those days it was WMC) a company employees kid, then you never received anything.

You should be able to tell by now that I come from a mining family. LOL

I think I know the guy you are talking about. It annoys me because I would have loved work experience with BHP Billiton. Both the people with scholarships had connections in the mining industry.