Career as Mining Engineer

The Mining industry is essentially a support industry. It provides the basic raw material for a very large range of industries. The mining industry employs engineers for production, safety and design. Mining engineers engage in finding the source of valuable minerals deposits located beneath the earth's surface or water & removing them in the most economical way.

                                                        Mining is a vast field that deals with identification, extraction, production and processing of valuable minerals like coal, petroleum, metallic minerals and non metallic minerals from natural reserves. 

Mining engineering covers techniques and technologies related to a range of mining activities like exploration, feasibility study, production, transportation and marketing of minerals. It covers maintenance of mines including removal of toxic gases and ensuring air circulation, land restoration and rehabilitation of mining sites are also part of mining engineering.

Mining engineers have a number of careers to choose from. Based on the role they assume, these professionals are responsible for activities like planning, designing and construction of mines, managing and controlling mining operations, ensuring safety, ventilation and cooling in the mines, segregation and transportation of minerals, designing engineering structures and dealing with environmental aspects of mining.

Some of the roles mining engineers can assume are mine designer, mine planner, mine manager, health and safety manager, mine ventilation manager, consulting engineers, sales engineer operation manager, mining investment analyst, production manager and petroleum engineer. Jobs are available both in government and private sector. Mining Engineers usually work in collaboration with geologists and civil, mechanical and metallurgical and industrial engineers.

Apart from mining industry, they can work in fields like construction, waste management and environmental conservation. Some of the organisation that hire mining engineers are The Indian Bureau of Mines, Geological Survey of India, Coal India, ONGC, HCL, NALCO, Tata Steel, Reliance and Neyveli Lignite. 

Countries like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and UK also provide lucrative career opportunities for interested candidates.

Courses in mining engineering are available at various level - Diploma in Mining and Mine Surveying Engineering

BE/ B. Tech in Mining Engineering, 

ME/M. Tech in Mining Engineering, Ph.D, Diploma holders in mining engineering can take up a job or study further. Associate Member of Institution of Engineers (AMIE) is one of the ways to pursue further study. The AMIE degree is with the traditional BE/B. Tech programmes. The eligibility criteria for the course is three year Polytechnic diploma or 10+2 in PCM with at least 45% marks. The course is suitable for both students and working professionals.

There are two sections in this course - Section A and Section B. The first section deals with subjects common to any engineering discipline. The second section is specific to the chosen branch. For the AMIE examination, you should first register yourself and become a member with Institution of Engineers. For details log on to www.amieindia.in

Coming to BE/B. Tech courses, Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur and Banaras offer B. Tech in Mining Engineering. The eligibility criteria is 10+2 with mathematics, physics and chemistry as subjects. Admission is based on performance in entrance test(IIT-JEE). For details log on to www.iitbhu.ac.in  or www.iitkgp.ac.in. National Institute of Technology, Mangalore offers B. Tech in Mining Engineering. The eligibility criteria is 10+2 with Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry as a subjects. Admission is based on performance in entrance test. For details log on to www.nitk.ac.in.
A typical BE/B. Tech programme in Mining Engineering covers topic like mining geology, mining surveying, mining machinery, materials handling, rock mechanics, mine health and safety, computer application in mining, environmental management in surface mines, mine economics, mine disaster and mine legislation, mine ventilation, mine cost engineering, operation analysis, mine planning and mineral processing.

Indian School Of Mines, Dhanbad or IIT (ISM) offers B. Tech and M. Tech in Mining Engineering. It is the 3rd oldest institute after IIT Roorkee and IIT BHU Varanasi. So this institution has been started to impart education in Mining and Geology, and today has grown into a technical institution with various academic departments. The eligibility criteria is BE/B.Tech in relevant stream. Admission is based on performance in entrance test. For more details log on to www.iitism.ac.in.