Friday, January 24, 2014

Knowing All About Mining Engineering

By Carey Bourdier


It appears like anyone can actually start up their own mines and soon be extracting minerals, at least if you believe what you see on TV. With mere basic equipment you expect that you will be digging gold instantly. In truth, this is far from reality where even large-scale mining companies must employ mining engineers to ensure sure that the entire operation runs smoothly every day.

A mining engineer is a professional who understands the theory and science behind the extraction of minerals, as well as understands the technology needed to retrieve these minerals from a variety of sources. In addition, this person also knows how to process the minerals in a way that maximizes their value. This extraction also must occur with a minimum of damage to the environment so a mining engineer also needs to ensure that the mining operation is safe for the employees as well as the area residents, wildlife, watersheds and flora.

The United States has vast mineral deposits and many different minerals are being mined. There are minerals in metal forms including gold, cadmium, silver, iron ore, copper and many more minerals which are significant too. Some also mine for industrial minerals like gypsum, lime, diatomite, different types of clay, salt, zeolites, soda ash and several others. Of course other than the aforementioned non-fuel minerals, some also mine for coal, petroleum and natural gas and more available fuel sources. Mining engineers should then bear the responsibilities of understanding the fact that with the different types of mining being operated also comes corresponding difficulties and restrictions.

The first step in the mining process is mineral exploration and here a mining engineer looks to find sources of a particular fuel or mineral and then determine whether or not a profitable mining operation can be created in the area. This includes the creation of a feasibility study, which discusses the pros and cons of creating a mine and makes recommendations about the creation of mine in a specific area.

To be a mining engineer, sometimes you need not only a four-year degree in mining engineering, you might want to consider earning a graduate-level degree. Many engineers have degrees in geology or surveying too. What these engineers are familiar with, apart from a large amount of technology, are also regarding surveying instruments such as inclinometer, theodolite and different types of alignment instruments and optical instruments too.

You should know that if such a career opportunity be of interest to you, you may be able to find many colleges and universities all over the world you can go to. Why in the United States, the list is longer than a dozen with the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Utah, the University of Kentucky, the Missouri University of Science and Technology, and the Colorado School of Mines making up some of the slots.




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