1. The First Mining School in Russia
The Moscow Mining Academy was established in 1918. The main task of the Academy was to train mining engineers and techni- cians.
There were three departments in the Academy: mining, geological prospecting and metallurgy.
The Moscow Mining Academy introduced a new course in coal mining mechanization which provided the basis for the development of mining engineering.
The two scientists A.M. Terpigorev and M.M. Protodyakonov wrote the first textbook on machinery for mining bedded deposits.
In 1925 the Moscow Mining Academy was one of the best-known educational institutions in Russia.
The Academy established close contacts with the coal and ore mining industries.
The Academy alone could not cope with the problem of training specialists.
In 1930 the Moscow Mining Academy was transformed4 into six independent institutes.
Among the new colleges which grew out of the Academy's departments were the Moscow Mining Institute and the Moscow Institute of Geological Pro-specting.
Later, the scientific research Institute of Mining appeared near Moscow.
2. Mining and Geological Higher Education
In Russia
In Russia young people get mining education at special institutes which train geologists and mining engineers for coal and ore mining.
Russian higher educational establishments offer different specializations for the students.
Thus, at the geological institutes, the students specialize in geology, the science which deals with different problems connected with the Earth, its history, the study of rocks, their physical and chemical properties.
One of the main tasks of geology is to prospect, discover and study the deposits of useful minerals.
Geology is both a theoretical and an applied science.
Mining geology is of great importance to the mining engineer.
The main trend in the development of higher mining education
is the introduction of courses in environmental protection, manage
ment (environmental human resources), economics and manage
ment of mining enterprises, marketing studies, computer-aided
design (CAD) and others.
Computer science is also of great importance.
The course aims at providing students with understanding how software and hardware technology helps solving problems.
Laboratory work is an important part in training specialists.
Experiments in laboratories and workshops will help students to develop their practical skills.
3. Mining Education in Great Britain
In Great Britain the students get mining education at special colleges and at mining departments of universities.
For example, the Mining Department at the University of Nottingham ranks as one of the foremost teaching and research mining schools in Great Britain.
The students come to the University from all parts of the country and from abroad.
The aim of training at the University is to give the student an understanding of applied science based on lectures, tutorial system, laboratory work and design classes.
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At Nottingham there are two types of laboratories, general and Specialized.
British educational system is fee-paying.
Students from all over the world (nearly 100 countries) study at the University of Nottingham.
For many years the University has had a thriving community of international students.
The University pays much attention to learning foreign languages.
For individual study there is a 16-place self-access tape library4 with a tape archive of 3,000 tapes in 30 languages.
There are also 16 video work stations where the students play back video tapes or watch TV broadcasts in a variety of languages.
4. Mining Education in the USA.
In the USA the basic aim of technical higher education is the training of qualified specialists in a selected field of technology.
In the field of technical education they have a three-part programme: 1) The University programme for engineers and scientists. 2) The technical institute programme for engineering technicians. 3) The vocational trade programme.
The students can get mining education at special colleges and at mining departments of universities.
For example, one of the oldest mining schools in the USA is the Colorado School of Mines.
The field of study includes earth sciences (geology, geochemistry, geophysics and others) and engineering.
The students may specialize in petrology, mineral deposits, mining engineering and other disciplines.
The mining engineering students study the basic sciences, principles and technologies of mineral exploration, underground and surface operations, rock mechanics, mine ventilation, surveying, mine safety and operating research.
During their course of training the students may visit surface and underground mines, oil fields, dressing plants and regions of geological interest.
A study of current curricula shows that the average American engineer receives only 10% of geology and 25% of mining in his (or her) undergraduate education in mining. As a rule, mining engineering programmes include: Liberal arts 20%; Basic sciences 25%; General engineering 20%; Geology 10%; Mining 25%.
