A positive history of coal?

[Fjell]

I recall reading recently that there wasn't a single mining engineering graduate from Calbourne last year. If that's true, the future looks pretty grim.

University of Exeter now I believe. But I don’t think it is a normal degree any more.

 

[aricooperdavis]

University of Exeter now I believe. But I don’t think it is a normal degree any more.

Yes, CSM is now a college within UoE. They offer both a BEng ("normal degree") and a MSc/PgDip (postgraduate degree). This year will be the first intake of students for the BEng programme since it was paused in 2020.

 

[Fjell]

Yes, CSM is now a college within UoE. They offer both a BEng ("normal degree") and a MSc/PgDip (postgraduate degree). This year will be the first intake of students for the BEng programme since it was paused in 2020.

It’s only open to those already employed in mining it says. Which is a step up in employability criteria. The MEng I did had a gov mandate to only take people either already working or clearly employable long term in the UK (youngish mainly) - ie no hobbyists.

 

[aricooperdavis]

How interesting, I wasn't aware of that!

 

[mikem]

They are "delighted to be launching two new Mining Engineering programmes for Sept 2023 entry! " (which are the ones mentioned above)

 

[aricooperdavis]

The results are in!

Here are the numbers given to me in response to my FOI request to the University of Exeter. I'm not sure what the different courses actually represent (what's the difference between an MSC and an MSc?), but it certainly looks better than "no graduates".

Also worth noting this is awards given rather than students on the course (some may fail):

	Award
Year	BENG Mining Engineering	BEng Mining Engineering	BENG Mining Engineering w FY - C	MENG Mining Engineering	MEng Mining Engineering	MSC Mining Engineering	MSc Mining Engineering	MSc Mining Engineering (Professional)	MSc Mining Engineering (Part Time)	PGDip Mining Engineering
1998/9	31					10
1999/0	13					5
2000/1	10					8
2001/2	12					3
2002/3	3					3
2003/4	9					4
2004/5		4		1			3			2
2005/6		12					4
2006/7		13					1
2007/8		14	4	6			7
2008/9		15		4			5
2009/0		23					4
2010/1		21		4			13
2011/2		25		1			11
2012/3		39		1			18
2013/4		37					25
2014/5		35					27
2015/6		47					23		2	1
2016/7		31			5		17		1
2017/8		19			6		13	5
2018/9		19			2		21	4
2019/0		25			3		23	6
2020/1		12			4		15	4
2021/2		16			3		22	3
2022/3		8			5		13	10

 

[mikem]

They are the same thing, but may to used to differentiate when courses were updated.

Pete's info presumably comes from (do they have a high intake of foreign students, who couldn't sign up during covid?):

Although the decline in pubs is shocking, another report published recently is much more serious. The U.K. Mining Education Forum (UKMEF) notes that no one has enrolled in mining engineering or mineral processing undergraduate courses in the country for the past two years. This is since Exeter University ‘paused’ these courses at the U.K.’s last mining colleges, Camborne School of Mines (CSM), in September 2020. As recently as 1990, there were over 300 mining graduates every year from five U.K. mining schools.

https://www.mining.com/the-view-from-england-time-called-on-mining-graduates/

At the time they said they would use the pause to develop a more appropriate course:

Local Cornish News - Cornish Stuff

Independent local news coverage from Cornwall. Find the latest Cornish news in Cornwall. Subscribe to our newsletter to stay up to date.

cornishstuff.com

 

[LJR]

Not a big surprise really. There is not a great future for mining engineers in the UK now. If you wanted to be an ME in coal mining, I can't really imagine where you could get your underground training done?

 

[Boy Engineer]

Although the decline in pubs is shocking, another report published recently is much more serious. The U.K. Mining Education Forum (UKMEF) notes that no one has enrolled in mining engineering or mineral processing undergraduate courses in the country for the past two years.

As a (once upon a time) mining engineer turned brewer, I'm inclined to worry more about the former..........

 

[pwhole]

I recently did a job on the River Don at Kilnhurst, northeast of Rotherham, at the site of the old Kilnhurst Forge, and had a lot of time on my hands, being part of a rescue team with no rescues likely. Poking around underneath the road bridge, I found a lot of coal, from gravel to very large lumps. The river runs over a sandstone bed here and is rapid enough for kayaking to take place, and it appears the coal is dumped there naturally by floods, as much of it is waterworn, with many pebbles and much fine gravel. There's no outcrop here, but lots around either on side, and the old Thrybergh Hall (Kilnhurst) Colliery was only half a mile upstream. As the South Yorkshire Navigation had a cut to the colliery, it's most likely that these large lumps were steam coal destined for further afield (possibly from the Rotherham/Greasbrough collieries), and that they simply fell off barges and were then washed downriver. I brought one lump home and cleaned it up, but it all looked like decent quality stuff.

https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/sid...46863&lon=-1.30221&layers=168&right=ESRIWorld

 

[shotlighter]

Some nice stuff there - take a sack next time!

 

[Cantclimbtom]

Purposefully avoiding politics (suggesting that's kept out of the thread). I'm merely making an observation of different countries' attitudes and situations.

In the last few weeks while traveling I have seen out of a train window (while traveling inland, and on my return), so many 100 waggons trains full of coal. Lots of big opencast mines, coal fired power stations. Seen when traveling through the Hunter Valley near Singleton NSW. It seems that Australia runs on coal.

Edit, there are a few underground mines too, but I didn't happen to see any headstock on my travels

 

[mikem]

Feb 2023:

The coal power capacity starting construction in China was six times as large as that in all of the rest of the world combined.

China permits two new coal power plants per week in 2022 – Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air

energyandcleanair.org