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Most of us are aware of the skills shortage in the global minerals
industry. It is appropriate that the Western Australian School of
Mines (WASM) is at the forefront of assisting the industry with
a significant supply of quality graduates and postgraduates.
Completing their studies in Kalgoorlie means that graduates have
considerable industry experience upon leaving university.
Curtin University has almost 500 WASM students studying
at the Kalgoorlie campus. Earlier in 2011 we announced our
plan to increase this to more than 600 students in the next few
years. Major infrastructure projects are necessary to achieve
this goal, including the construction and expansion of student
accommodation. The core of the current 131-room Agricola
College facility is more than 40 years old. WASM itself, dating
from 1903, requires new laboratories and visualisation theatres
to service new teaching and research initiatives, plus extensive
refurbishment to support classes of up to 200 students.
WASM produces up to 30% of all Australia’s mining
professionals. Few Australians travel interstate for their university
education, and so the growth in WASM’s graduating mining
professionals must come from international students. The past few
years have seen the number of international students grow rapidly
to about 120 in Kalgoorlie; many of these upon graduating remain
in Australia to further their careers.
With the assistance of regional employers,
notably Super Pit managers KCGM, all
international students have been able to find the
industry experience they require to graduate.
In addition to recruiting and educating
increasing numbers of international students,
WASM has a role in capacity building within
mining schools across the globe. Many
WASM alumni are in senior positions in well-
established mining schools in a number of
countries of the developing world. These
countries are experiencing mining booms, along
with many countries where mining has not been
part of their traditional economy. In many of
these countries (for example, in sub-Saharan
Africa), a significant proportion of the growing
population are living on less than A$2 per day!
Mining revenues (wages, taxes, royalties
and infrastructure projects – the latter often funded via mining
companies’ corporate social responsibility budgets) are seen as
the route out of abject poverty. Hence, there is a growing demand
for education – and in particular mining education, comprising
both the technical skills and the professional knowledge.
Such knowledge also extends to the governance of mining
projects through the application of appropriate regulations and
management. Here, through the assistance of the federal AusAID
program, WASM has been running short-course programs for
scholars across Africa. These mid- to senior-career staff of the
equivalent of WA’s Mines Ministry have benefited from programs
of formal, informal and experiential learning across Curtin’s
WASM campuses in Kalgoorlie and Bentley. WASM is currently
involved in many parts of the world in advising on mining
education developments, which supports its strategic direction of
being international, flexible, and providing high-quality education
and research.
Growth in students, staff and infrastructure will be achieved
through the support of industry, government and the University.
WASM has benefited from the generous, longstanding support of
many organisations, including the WA Mining Club, and will be
asking for continued support that will enable WASM to increase
the number of quality graduates that serve our great industry.
PROFESSOR STEVE HALL
DIRECTOR
WESTERN AUSTRALIAN
SCHOOL OF MINES
STUDENTS IN WASM GEOLOGY CLASSROOM
AFRICAN MINING DELEGATES VISIT WASM AND KALGOORLIE
MEETINGWORLDDEMAND
for mining know-how
Many of our Minesite contributors are living testament to the merits
of getting a degree or postgraduate qualification from the WA School
of Mines (WASM). With almost one-third of all mining professionals
in the nation having a WASM background, and with over a century
of experience in the field of educating mining’s finest, WASM’s
heritage and credentials are beyond compare. To tell us more about
the important role the School fulfils to national and increasingly
international markets is WASM Director, Professor Steve Hall.
MINESITE 2011
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