Building International Capacity in Mining Engineering: The NUST-WITS Mining Educational Collaboration

Frederick T. Cawood; Sarfraz ALI; Hamid  ASHRAF; Tariq  FEROZE

doi:10.29227/IM-2020-02-37

Frederick T. Cawood
Sarfraz ALI National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Balochistan Campus, Pakistan
Hamid ASHRAF National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Balochistan Campus, Pakistan
Tariq FEROZE National University of Sciences & Technology (NUST), Balochistan Campus, Pakistan

DOI: https://doi.org/10.29227/IM-2020-02-37

Keywords: university collaboration, Pakistan mining, South African mining, capacity building, twenty-first century mining

Abstract

Pakistan has not developed its mining sector to its full potential. This is despite its quality mineral resources. Mining in Pakistan is mostly ‘artisanal’ and ‘small-scale’, and for this to change, the country must develop the skills to support a flourishing formal sector of significance in the twenty-first century.

Pakistan has good quality universities with some of them already providing courses in mining. Building on this platform, NUST University approached the School of Mining Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits Mining) in 2011 to start a collaboration that will result in greater sector benefit for Pakistan. The outcome of the discussions was to do capacity building for mining professionals in Pakistan at postgraduate and post-doctorate levels. The approach used was to identify university staff requirements to support a teaching, learning and research programme for a 21^st century mining sector and then to match these with the qualifications of the lecturers who were identified to deliver the programme at NUST. The collaboration has proved to be successful because of leadership, energy and carefully selected ‘champions’ on both sides. One of the many highlights of the collaboration was the establishment of an excellent laboratory doing research on how the fourth industrial revolution is affecting the mining sector. The Digital Mining Project formed the core of the research, and it still allows for regular exchanges of students, staff and post-doctorates on a consistent research theme.