The Wits School of Mining Engineering is today recognised as one of the world’s top mining engineering schools, with among the most expansive academic and research programmes. It also has one of the highest growth rates of any of the engineering schools or departments at Wits, having seen a consistent increase in students to its courses.
The challenges facing mining today are substantial. However, best practice innovations and technology offer the opportunity for the design and management of high-tech mines that are not only safer, but also more productive and environmentally and socially responsible, while still being economically successful. To promote such innovation, the School works closely with the Faculty’s Wits Mining Institute (WMI).
The School’s Strategic Plan ensures that the Wits Mining Team can deliver Excellence in Teaching, Research and Service in line with the Wits Vision 2022 of being “a leading research-intensive university firmly embedded in the Top 100 world universities by 2022”.
As mining requires the skills and technology of several branches of engineering, most of the curriculum for years one and two is common to all branches of engineering. The third and fourth years focus on mining engineering and include mineral resources evaluation, ventilation and environmental engineering, mine transport, rock mechanics and mine design and planning.
The School’s undergraduate programme is designed to provide graduates with the engineering expertise they require as mining engineers. The School has, in conjunction with the South African mining industry, developed a programme of postgraduate courses designed to cater for the needs of graduates. These courses include technical subjects for specialist skills in mining, rock engineering, and mineral resources management and evaluation, as well as management skills in evaluation techniques and fundamental principles in mineral economics.
“The Wits School of Mining Engineering is today recognised as one of the world’s top mining engineering schools, with among the most expansive programmes.”
Wits Mining graduates are ready for these challenges and the School of Mining Engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand is known and respected internationally for the quality of its programmes and graduates. Its ranking among the top mining engineering schools worldwide is testimony to this fact.
Message from the Head of School
It is again an exciting opportunity for me to share with you the latest developments in the School, especially the highlights from achievements made in 2017 going into 2018. The year 2017 marked year three of my five-year term as Head of School. Although the School turned 120 years old in 2016, it was only logistically possible to celebrate this historical milestone on 23 March 2017. Mr Nick Holland, the CEO of Gold Fields, delivered the Keynote Address at the event.
I am deeply humbled to be the bearer of the good news that – since its establishment as a mere tin shack in Kimberley in 1896 – the School has continued on an upward trajectory to now being ranked among the top mining engineering schools worldwide. In 2016, the UK-based Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) Ltd World University Rankings ranked the School in the Top 100 of 403 mining schools worldwide; our position improved in 2017 when the School was ranked No. 22, and again in 2018 when the School was ranked No. 15 worldwide. This made us the highest ranked School at Wits University in 2018.
In each of the three years, the School remained the No. 1 ranked school in Africa, and the only South African mining school to feature in the Top 50 mining schools worldwide in both 2017 and 2018. All this has been made possible by the hard work and sterling efforts of staff in the School. I am grateful to be able to work with such a competent and dedicated team: the Wits Mining Team. This achievement has also been underpinned by the immense contribution from our students, university management, the School’s alumni and the South African mining industry, in ensuring that we can be the best at what we do.
