Mining Engineering

Mining Engineering is an engineering discipline that involves the science, technology and application of extracting and processing minerals from a natural environment. In India, mining engineering courses includes extraction of valuable ores from the ground for processing and utilization. It involves all the phases of mining operations starting from exploration and discovery, feasibility, development, production, processing, and marketing. After that it is also required to restore and rehabilitate the land from where the extraction was done.

Mining Engineers are responsible for locating natural reserves of minerals, petroleum, and other useful natural resources and lay out the plans, device shafts, inclines or quarries for the safe extraction of these resources from under the earth. The natural resource can be coal, petroleum, metallic or non metallic minerals, etc. While planning to extract the natural resource from under the earth a mining engineer also has to keep into mind workers health, safety and welfare. 

Mining Engineers are required to have knowledge of other disciplines as well. These include geology, civil and mechanical engineering, metallurgy, commerce, economics, management, law and information technology. Determining the practicality of mining an ore deposit, designing the ventilation system for an underground mine, supervising the construction of conveyors at an open pit site, researching the development of new extraction process are some of the activities involved in the mining engineers work.

Career Prospects

This field promises total job satisfaction, high salary compensations, and a prosperous career. In India one can easily find jobs in public as well private sectors. The Neyvelli Lignite Corporation, Coal India Ltd., Geological Survey of India, the Indian Bureau of Mines, and the IPCL are the top recruiters of mining engineers in the public sector.

The National Institute of Rock Mechanics and Kolar Gold Fields (Karnataka) employ mining graduates/postgraduates in their projects. Diploma-holders with a Mines Foreman’s certificate of competency from DGMS are recruited as senior operative trainees. Companies such as NALCO pay a stipend for the training period. Mining engineers are of great demand in countries such as Dubai, UAE, and Kuwait. Engineers with excellent academic skills can opt for teaching and research.

Top Companies hiring Mining Engineers

  Mining Engineers can find employment in Private as well as public sectors.

The major recruiters for Mining Engineers are:

• The Indian Bureau of Mines.
• Geological Survey of India.
• Coal India Ltd.
• IPCL.
• ONGC.
• Neyvelli Lignite Corp.
• NALCO.
• TISCO.
• Reliance.
• TELCO.