• To ensure that there is a higher education policy that guarantees continuous delivery of sufficient graduates/diplomats for the sustainable supply of high-level skills required by the mining industry
• To provide a network of appropriately funded, quality mining and mineral resources facilities at tertiary educational level
• To support the maintenance of a further education and training (FET) delivery system that is coherent and co-ordinated. The FET delivery system should be a quality, responsive, cost-effective system
• To influence the Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA) to generate and register unit standards and qualifications and to maintain quality as well as to give effect to the requirements of the Skills Development Act
• To contribute to the development of policy that will result in the implementation of Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) programmes leading to raising the skills base in the mining industry.

A mining industry environment with a policy for sustainable delivery of education and training will be characterised by the following success indicators:

• Favourable and focused policies for funding of education and training from government, the MQA and other sources for the mining industry
• A common understanding of industry’s competency requirements, reflected in curricula as designed and developed by the MQA
• Industry approved collaboration and joint skills developement initiatives with the FET colleges
• High- level participation at education and training national bodies and platforms to influence policy and legislation
• A conducive working relationship between employers and organised labour on strategies for skills development in the mining industry.

1. National imperatives

The Chamber ensures that the mining industry actively participates at all education and training platforms that will have an impact on the industry.

The Chamber therefore actively participates at such bodies as the National Skills Authority, the South African Qualifications Authority, the National Board for Further Education and Training and Business Unity South Africa to influence and contribute to:

• the education legislative framework
• the skills development legislative framework
• engagement with other social partners at NEDLAC
• strategic initiatives proposed at JIPSA.

2. Tertiary education

The mining industry needs to be assured of a sustainable supply of graduates and diplomats from higher education institutions. This occurs when the higher education institutions are resourced with highly qualified and experienced academic staff.

• Mining Education Trust Fund
  The mining industry established a special trust fund to raise funds with the sole aim of supporting academic staff at tertiary institutions. This fund is used to help tertiary institutions with their academic staff retention strategies, especially in mining engineering faculties.
• Bursaries
  Each company in the mining industry runs a bursary scheme for graduate students who pursue a mining engineering qualification. The MQA has also reserved funds for bursaries in this field to augment the efforts of the various companies in the sector.

The industry therefore supports a sustainable supply of graduates in the mining industry at both university academic and student funding levels.

3. Industry skills development

The vigorous growth in mining and minerals processing has created wonderful career opportunities for school leavers and matriculants.

Mining in South Africa has become one of the country's foremost technological industries, contributing nearly half of the money spent on research by private enterprise. The mines and research organisations require an endless variety of technically skilled scientists and engineers to keep South Africa in the forefront of mining. The industry also needs many non-technical personnel to provide the legal, medical, financial and other services associated with an industry that has investments worth billions of rands.

The mining industry has a wide range of training schemes designed to make the most of young people's potential and, in many cases, regardless of the academic qualifications. Whatever the basic qualifications, competent personnel who are prepared to study and pass examinations can advance very rapidly in the mining industry. Although the demand is for good quality matriculants, with above average passes in mathematics and science, there are opportunities in many other fields as well!

Matriculants have the choice of a number of student official courses (mining and metallurgical engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering and, to a lesser extent, geology and personnel administration) designed to give them the practical grounding and theoretical knowledge necessary to obtain their national and higher diplomas. Matriculants, and in some cases persons with lesser qualifications, are sought for various apprenticeship courses. Those persons with standard eight and higher, can also do the more practically orientated student miners' course, provided that they are able to pass the necessary selections criteria.

Choosing a career is probably one of the most important decisions that you will have to make during your lifetime, and careful though should be given to WHERE and IF you could be employed when you have chosen your career and study path. You should always try to establish if there is a demand for personnel in the type of career that you intend to pursue. Remember that mathematics and physical science are key subjects for many careers, so don't neglect them!

Engineering is the application of scientific knowledge and imagination to everyday problems. The engineer is concerned with the improvement of people's living standards by designing and constructing buildings, developing new processes, machinery and equipment. Engineering in the minerals industry is responsible for extracting the raw materials and for processing metals and minerals which are the foundation for manufacturing.

A variety of engineering work opportunities lie in the operating and production fields. Whichever field of engineering you embark upon, your duties could include one or more of the following: production, design, research and development, construction, manufacture, planning, evaluation, operation and management. Many engineers attain management positions and must therefore be conversant with financial matters, have managerial skills and the ability to work with, lead and motivate people. They also need to be flexible and have a problem-solving attitude to work.

n order to gain admission to an engineering faculty at a university you will require, as a minimum, a matriculation certificate or an exemption from the Joint Matriculation Board, normally with C symbols and above on the higher grade in mathematics and physical science. Naturally, the better your marks, the greater are your chances of being accepted by an engineering faculty and of receiving a bursary. For admission to a technikon, you will require a senior certificate with an acceptable pass in mathematics and physical science.

Once discovered and evaluated, minerals must be mined, brought to the surface and extracted from the waste rock. There are two principal types of mining: open pit and underground mining. In open pit mining methods, the overburden must be removed by stripping the surface rock and soil to expose the orebody, which can then be removed and processed.

outh Africa leads the world in deep-level mining technology. In order to maintain this level of development, a high standard of education and training of mining engineers is vital. South African university mining and minerals processing degrees and the training received on mines are exceptionally good, and are recognised world-wide.

Mining engineers plan, design, construct, manage and operate mines and the facilities that are used to extract raw materials from the earth. They are responsible for the economic and safe operation of mines. Some mining engineers work with geologists and metallurgical engineers to evaluate new ore deposits. Others are involved in the research and development of mining equipment and processes. Mining engineers can also be involved in the protection and rehabilitations of the environment. The ability to manage people forms an important part of the mining engineer's work and those who have leadership qualities will generally progress to senior positions in the mining industry.

Since the mining industry is becoming more technologically sophisticated, an interest in computer sciences and technical and engineering drawing is advantageous.

Newly qualified graduates in all the major engineering disciplines are given intensive on-the-job training to give them further practical and academic experience in order to prepare them for the Government Certificates of Competency, and to comply with requirements for possible registration with the South Africa Council of Professional Engineers.

The metallurgist uses sicentific expertise and knowledge to extract and process minerals in rocks in concentrations of as little as five parts per million. Mining, minerals processing and materials fabrication are vital to all industrialised countires and the aviation industry is a good example of this interrelationship.

Metallurgical engineers need specialised knowledge of the properties of a wide range of materials. They must have a detailed understanding of the physical and chemical characteristics of minerals an dhow they react under different conditions. The function of the extractive metallurgist is to manage the process of ores, the extraction of the valuable metal or mineral and further benefication or refining. Metallurgists design, test, operate and manage minerals processing plants, and must be competent to use the latest scientific technology. In addition, there are good prospects for metallurgists in research and development.

Because minerals are finite and because some ore grades are decreasing, metallurgists need to recover as much of the mineral possible. Modern processing and manufacturing plants, therefore, use the most up-to-date analytical instruments and computers to help monitor processes and maximise efficiency.

An undergraduate has the choice of becoming an extractive metallurgist in the minerals industry or of becoming a physical metallurgist. Some metallurgists prefer to take employment in research and development organisations or academic institutions. Leaders in the industry forsee that the metallurgical graduate will leave more and more of the everyday plant operations to trained technicians and technologists so that the graduate can take the lead in research, process and development and management.

he mining industry also employs chemical engineers and preference is given to chemical engineers who have taken the extractive metallurgy/minerals processing option at university.

No mine could function without power and the machines that depend on it. The responsibility for providing this power and the associated facilities rests with the engineering department on the mine and the consulting engineers' department at head office.

This enterprising world of deep-level and large-scale open pit mining, automation, robotics, computer-aided design, hydropower and environmental control and manipulation provides the challenges that engineers and engineering departments must face and overcome.

The mining industry needs mechanical and electrical engineers who can create, innovate and manage systems that will take us through the 21st century. The ultimate objective of engineering is to ensure that production targets can be achieved- by providing systems technology and machinery that will do the job as efficiently and as safely as is possible. Such mining equipment may be electronic and computer controlled, hydraulic or pneumatic in operation, driven by overhead wires, trailing cable or batter, or by diesel engines and gas turbines.

As part of their academic training, mechanical engineers need to study the principles design and testing of a wide range of mechanical devices and the types of materials and metals used in the construction of these machines.

The field of electrical engineering is divided into two main areas:

• Heavy current electrical engineering which is concerned with electrical systems and large currents of electrical power
• Light current electrical engineering (or electronics) which involves the design, operation and maintenance of circuits which use smaller amounts of electricity.

Because so many students choose to work in electronics, there is a shortage of specialists in heavy current electrical engineering and this means that career and promotional opportunities are very good in this field in the mining industry.

There are two main routes that can be followed to become either an electrical or mechanical engineer. These branches of engineering can be studied at either a university or a technikon. The university route is for the student with good grades and ability in mathematics and physical science. University students are required to work six to eight weeks per year in industry. The technikon route, while having an academic side, tends to relate to theory to the practical side of engineering, thus making the theory easier to understand. Students whose aptitudes do not lie so much with academic study tend to follow the technikon route. Technikon training alternates employment with periods of full-time study.

The improvement of safety and working conditions in South African mines has always been a priority of the mining industry. The environmental engineering department on a mine advises mine management on all aspects of airflow, heat, humidity and dust control. Ventilation and refrigeration are two of the most vital processes that fall under this department's responsibility.

entilation in deep-level mining involves forcing immense volumes of air through a network of underground shafts and tunnels. The process requires gigantic fans, huge electric motors and underground refrigeration plants. All large gold, coal and base metal mines have ventilation departments and the specialist staff employed in these departments measure and report on environmental conditions. They are also involved in the planning and design of ventilation and refrigeration systems. The use of ice as a means of cooling deep mines was established in 1986, after tests demonstrated that ice can be pneumatically conveyed over long distances. Another advantage of ice is that freezing desalinates mine water and thus provides clean water. A dense ice slurry can be sent underground and melted to yield clean, cold water at temperatures just above 0ºC.

Most minerals occur in specific settings and it is the geologist's task to identify and find these deposits. The geologist's trained eye draws a wealth of conclusions from borehole core samples obtained from the earth's crust.

Geologists use the following techniques to locate new mineral deposits:

• Remote sensing, photogeology and geological mapping
• Geophysics - magnetic, radiometric, electrical, seismic and gravity surveys
• Geochemisty.

Once a mineral deposit is located, borehole drilling and logging take place in order to define and quantify the grade and size of the deposit. In this way, it is established whether or not mining of the orebody is possible.

In the mining industry, geologists fall into two broad categories:

• Exploration geologists who are involved in the search for and evaluation of new ore deposits, using one or more of the above techniques
• Mining geologists who are involved with the daily duties of manning geological departments on mines. The work, which is concerned with establishing the basic geological and structural properties of the orebody at the mine, involves surface and underground mapping in conjunction with logging and sample analysis.

Although there is at present no statutory training period geologists after university, experience gained on the job in early working years develops a geologist's skills. Some companies do have a formal training period for mining geologists. A BSc(Hons) degree or equivalent in geology, with good academic and practical training, entitles graduates to register as professional geologists with the South African Council for Natural Scientists.

Surveying is the art of making such measurements and observations as are necessary to determine the position of areas and volumes of natural and man-made features on the earth's surface as well as underground, and representing the results on plans or maps drawn to a suitable scale.

he mine surveyor carries out routine practical survey duties in the mornings so that he can prepare and update all statutory surface and underground mine plans. He determines directions underground and measures up the areas and volumes of rock blasted by production crews. In addition he takes regular samples of all the reef or orebody exposed in the underground excavations in order to determine which areas are payable. In the afternoons, back in the office, the surveyor calculates and computer processes the survey data acquired during the morning and every month, measures the quantity of work done by the mining contractors underground and calculates their contract earnings.

Modern mines run on up-to-date business lines. This means that the mining industry offers the applicant a wide variety of commercial positions. If you are interested in a career in the business world you should select the one that best fits your knowledge and skills.

The two branches of accountancy most in demand are chartered accountancy and cost and management accountancy

Personnel work includes the following:

• Human resources planning
• Talent management
• Establishment and operation of medical and pension schemes
• Monitoring and evaluation of employee efficiency
• Attention to employees' welfare needs

Training is an ongoing process; its function is to improve employees' job performances by improving skills. Training staff liaise with managers to establish in which areas skills can be improved and implement courses to achieve this objective. Training staff also have to supervise the training and development of human resources on the mine.

Industrial relations personnel are concerned with the establishment and maintenance of systems of negotiations, consultation and communication aimed at promoting healthy relationships between management and employees.

Their work involves :

• Negotiating agreements with trade union representatives on procedures and conditions of employment
• Devising and implementing disciplinary and grievance procedures
• The interpretation and implementation of agreements and labour legislation

The mining industry continues to be a leader in the field of insurance cover for employees and their dependants through the Rand Mutual Assurance Company, an affiliate of the Chamber of Mines.

he mining houses run many well-equipped hospitals for mine employees throughout South Africa. In addition to the normal treatment of disease and injuries, mine hospitals actively promote public health and preventative medicine and thus offer good all-round training to young medical personnel.

The mining companies and the Mining Qualifications Authority make available generous bursaries and scholarships to employees, matriculants and students. The emphasis for bursaries is on the professions that are most essential to the industry: mining engineering, metallurgical engineering, chemical engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and mining geology.

Applications for bursaries should be made direct to the bursary department of the mines.