Back from the Brink was a hard hitting report that many will remember in early 1998 when the Minerals Council of Australia undertook a review of the status of minerals tertiary education in Australia.
The writer certainly remembers it when, following Australian Mining’s report on the conclusions, he was hit by furious missives from some of the smaller mining schools protecting their patches against what they saw as an attempt to divide up the available “spoils” among the larger schools.
Subsequently, the Minerals Tertiary Education Council (MTEC) was set up with funding of $15m over five years backed by a full time secretariat to deliver the objectives of Back from the Brink.
Some 4.5 years later, the question has to asked as to whether the objectives have been achieved. The mining industry and its suppliers have globalised at a far higher rate than anyone might have anticipated back in 1997-1998.
This Big is Beautiful and Essential mantra became overpowering around 2000 and in the rush to “merge” (always a euphemism for take over) exuberant and very full prices were - and are being - paid. Incidentally, I suspect we will see some of these major conglomerates break up again as the next cycle of business management fashion takes hold.
During this period, globalisation seems to have certainly passed the tertiary education sector by. Takeovers have shifted company focuses towards centres like London and, at the same time, have eliminated the local companies that used to “champion” mining schools. Of the 10 mining companies that helped fund Back from the Brink just a few years ago, Aberfoyle, Normandy Mining and Powercoal are no longer, while others like BHP and Rio Tinto now have their gaze firmly averted elsewhere.
Australia still has six, seven, seven-and-a-half or eight mining schools covering various disciplines like mining engineering, geology and metallurgy, depending on who you talk to.
Are they all viable? Have they initiated the global links that Back from the Brink recommended? Or has the brink itself moved forward?
It is important to recognise that this is not an Australian phenomenon. Ten mining schools are widely expected to close within the next 12 months in North America, the UK and here under the pressures of reduced government funding for tertiary education and cyclical numbers of students studying necessary pre-requisite subjects like mathematics and sciences.
In the US, the number of mining engineering programs is widely expected to drop to 20 or even 16 compared to a one-time 27.
The Minerals Council intends to find out whether all is well in Australia in this international context. A strategic review will be held by the MTEC under executive director Dr Kevin Tuckwell, with the close involvement of Professor Jim Galvin, present Head of the School of Mining Engineering at the University of NSW.
Galvin announced last month that he would be resigning as head of school at the end of the year after eight years in the job to take a six-month sabbatical to assist in the MTEC review. He will remain as Professor of Mining Engineering at the university.
Without in any way wanting to pre-empt the enquiry, which is due to report to the Minerals Council of Australia by June, there are some pointers to the way ahead.
The council itself has given the major clue by choosing to only deal with specific universities in areas like mining engineering, metallurgy and geology to encourage the networking and sharing on a national and international scale.
For example, in mining engineering, the “chosen” are the WA School of Mines at Curtin University, the University of Queensland and the University of NSW.
An early result of this collaboration has been the official opening last month of the Australian National Centre for Mine Ventilation at the University of NSW, partially seed funded by the MCA.
Dr Roy Moreby, who has had wide experience in Australian mines, is the director of the school but will operate out of Plymouth in the UK. He will visit Australia one month out of four, effectively establishing a “virtual” school that could attract and educate students from anywhere in the English-speaking world.
The centre will also be expected to develop its own research program in conjunction with the mining industry worldwide.
Another similarly MCA-funded initiative will be a National Centre for Rock Mechanics, which will also be developed as an international centre of excellence.
This is likely to be located in Western Australia but with nodes around the country to bring in cross-fertilisation and expertise in areas like coal.
In other words, tertiary mining education is going to have to evolve rapidly to meet the demands of the globalised mining industry and its suppliers. The opportunity is there for Australia to provide its immense mining experience to much of the world.
But first there must be credibility among the educational establishments themselves. The reality is that not all institutions will be winners.
MIKE SYDDELL, ASSOCIATE EDITOR