WHAT A MINE FIELD
Stone Age, Bronze Age, Iron Age etc., are the names given to the epochs of human developement & mainly so because man has been fascinated by minerals for ages. Today our industrial society will be inconceivable without mineral fuels, raw materials and processed goods. For all this, the mining industry has played a vital role. With science & technology developing rapidly & more innovations taking places, the challenges in mining and minerals processing have become greater.
Mining engineers are professionals who apply science and technology (in particular, geosciences), to the efficient exploration and extraction of minerals from the earth. Minerals are a major source of export income. The demand for coal, iron ore, bauxite, & petroleum will continue. Mining engineers design, develop, reclaim and manages mines and plants that are profitable, safe, and environmentally acceptable.
TYPICAL JOB DUTIES INCLUDE
Determining the practivality 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 a new extraction process.
Some mining engineers work with geologists and metallurgical engineers to locate & appraise new ore deposit; others develop new mining equipment or direct processing operations, to separate minerals from the dirt & rock in which they are found. Jobs are usually located at the site of minerals deposits, often near small communities.
Mining engineering offers one of the most diverse range of career paths, high salary levels & excellent opportunites for career progression. This is because it is a global profession that encompasses a wide range of activities involving technology, people, equipment financial resources, community & government. Many mining companies amy provide on-the-job training; upgrading & in-service workshops to further train their employees.
Mining engineering degree proframmes include elements from a number of other disciplines such as geology, metallurgy, commerce, economics & management. Graduate possessing knowledge of mining processes within this framework are very versatile & can progress rapidly.
Career opportunities exisit in areas such as
This spectrum of career paths provides mining graduates with the flexibility to work in & move between a diverse range of environments & locations. We have indian Bureau of mines who is deeply involved in the growth of mining industry. "We have updated our curriculum by including software & computer technology apart from the compulsory subjects. With this added knowledge, we feel our student will have a better chance," said SB shringarputale, Head of Department, Mining, Visvesvaraya Regional college, of Engineering, Nagpur.
REQUIREMENTS
A successful career in mining engineering, requires a strong background in mathematics, computer applications, economics, communication skills, & the physical sciences, particularly geology, physics, & chemistry. In addition, mining engineers must be versed in rock mechanics, mining methods, mineral benefication,mine ventilation, surveying, mineral evaluation, health & safety issues, permitting, environmental protection, r eclamation, & management. There should be the ability to keep calm under pressure & in inevitable crises.
POTENTIAL IN INDIA
For a mining professional, there is great potential in our country as it is endowed with significant mineral resourses India produces 89 minerals out of which four are fuel minerals 11 metallic, 52 non-metallic and 22 minor minerals. The total value of mineral production (excluding atomic minerals was Rs. 4,04,768 million in 1998-99. Iron ore, copper ore chromite and/or Zinc concentrates, gold, manganese ore, bauxite, lead concentrates and silver account for the entire metallic minerals, 92 % of the aggregate value is shared by limestone, magnesite, dolomite, barytes, Kaolin gypsum, appetite and phosphorite, steatite and fluiorite.
India is the world's largest producer of mica blocks and mica splittings.
JOB PROSPECTS
Though there was a time when mining engineers were in demand, today, only the best can get good and high salaried jobs."On one hand, the number of institute have increased and on the other hand, quite a few PSUS including Coal India have stopped recruitment. The cement industry is also facing problems. There are openings but limited."
The mines, mining finance houses & research organisation require an endless vareity of technically skilled scientists & enginners. The industry also needs many non-technical personnel to provide the legal, medical, financial & other services associated with an industry that has investment worth billions of dollars.
Institutes
The Indian school of mine (ISM) is probably the most well known educational centre for mining. Established in 1926 on the lines of Royal school of Mines London, It is the only institute of its kind in i ndia and is Asia's premium mining institute. ISM offers a BTech degree in Mining, Mineral, petroleum, & mining Machinery Engineering. To keeo pace with the industry,it has recently started two new courses in computer science, and electronics engineering.
Indian school of Mines holds an All India Entrance Examination for admission to the following BTech and MSc (Tech) programmes.
BTech Mining Engineering-65 seats four years Mining Machinery-35 seats four years Petroleum-30 seats four years Mineral Engineering-30 seats four years Mining Engineering- three years MSc (Tech) Applied Geology-20 seats-three years Applied Geophysics-20 seats three years Another popular institute is the IIT Kharagpur. The department offers the following courses Duration : Four years Entrance : Through the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) Dual degree programme leading to the award of BTech (Hons), and MTech with a specialisation in Mining Engineering after the completion of five years Duration : Five years Entrance : through the joint Entrance Examination (JEE)
'Be what you want to be' is not just an ad line. We offer you a variety of careers to choose from. Find out all about the career of your choice, how toenter and where to study. Career in - MARINE ENGINEER
OUT AT SEA
For those who are seafarers at heart. With an inordinate affinity for maritime adventure. Consider the shipping industry & the wonderful opportunities it opens up.
And of course, for those who love travelling, what can be better way to
make a living than to get paid for wanderlust. To be in shipping doesn't
necessarily mean begin a sailor. There are other potentially gratifying
options that aspirants can get appraised of. In fact, there are more career
gateways in the shipping industry, than most of us realise. Working abroad
a ship proffers opportunities for technical personnel in varying degrees of
responsibility & expertise.
There are some vistas through which you can begin steering the course
of your career in marine engineering. Those who want to begin early need
to take the IIT entrance exams after the twelth standard. These exams are
conducted by Marine Engineering Reasearch Institute (MERI), in Calcutta.
MERI, offers a government recognised Bachelor's degree (BE) in Marine
Engineering. There's also an Alternate Training Scheme through which
students, after completing twelth grade under the ten plus two system, can
intermittently study as well as go out to sea. Under this scheme, student
are expected to study for the first year, sail in the second year, & complete
their degree on terra firma in the final year.
Having made an entry, every fresh graduate embarks as a junior engineer or junior assisitant. The ranks in the ship are junior Engineer. Fourth Engineer Third Enginer, second Engineer & finally, at the apex: chief Engineer. JK Dhar (Vice principal, LBS College of Advanced Maritime Studies and Research) says," In a shipping career, you have to pass three levels; Marine engineer at classIV, class II and class I( note there is no class three ) When a person complete class I with sufficient sea experience, he can be absorbed as cheif engineer is the tehnical equivalent of the captain. Marine engineers, for the most part of their careers, work at sea. However, the vocation also offers some interesting career dimensions for tose, who after longspells at sea, choose the comfort of solid ground.
Here are some institute offering a degree in marine Engineering
For those interested in commercial shipping
If you are interested in the Discovery, Evaluation, Development, Operation, & Reclamation of minerals deposits that are underground, near the surface, or in bodies of water and associated sediments, then mining should be the right career option.
Maritime science include engineering quently, the safety of passengers. Marine engineers are in charge of the ship's machinery & equipment. Marine engineering is a multimedimensional science that appeals to people with different interests & abilities. It covers a very broad spectrum of study - it has various multidisciplinary branches have in common is world-wide travel. There aresome vistas through which you can begin steering the course of your career in marine engineering.
| For further details, contact: | ||
Indian School of mines, Dhanbad 826004, Bihar. & (0326) 205502, 205402 |
| For further details, contact: | ||
IIIT Kharagpur, Kharagpur- 721 302, India call & 3222-83720. The other institutes conducting courses in mining are : REC, Nagpur; Institute of Technology(BHU) at varansi; Manipal; Institute of Technology ( BITS) -(Pilani and Ranchi); University of Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttar Pradesh; Jadavpur University, Calcutta; REC. Rourkela; Golden Valley Institute of Engineers; Karnataka. |
| For further details, contact: | ||
The Narottam Morajee Institute of Shipping offers a diploma in Shipping Management, 76,Jolly Maker Chamber 2. Nariman Point. Mumbai-29. |
