Graduate Course Descriptions

The following are abbreviated course descriptions. Please click on the title of the course for a more detailed description.

611 MINE ECONOMICS (2+0) 2 credits
Introduction to management accounting principles, balance sheet and income statement, depreciation, depletion and cash flow. Financial evaluation using present value theory, equipment evaluation and replacement. Risk and sensitivity analysis. Prerequisite: G E 385; MINE 210; MINE 361 or equivalent. Mousset-Jones

613 MINERAL RESERVE ESTIMATION (3+0) 3 credits
Principles of sampling and the study of the major methods for mineral reserve estimation including polygonal, inverse distance squared and geostatistical. Grade tonnage curves for normal and log normal distribution. Variograms and kriging of mineral reserves. Prerequisite: C S 103 or equivalent; G E 385. Mousset-Jones

615 SURFACE MINE DESIGN (1+3) 2 credits
Design surface mining operations including optimization techniques. Lab uses integrated mine design software packages for layout and drawing of concepts covered in lecture. Prerequisite: MINE 210, 242.

616 UNDERGROUND MINE DESIGN (1+3) 2 credits
Design of underground mining operations include selection of mining methods. Lab uses integrated mine design software for layout and drawing of concept covered in lecture. Prerequisite: MINE 210, 242.

618 MINE FEASIBILITY (1+3) 3 credits
Data, techniques and layout required for a formal mine feasibility report to be prepared on a given mineral deposit. Prerequisite: MINE 411, 413, 415. (Major capstone course.) Mousset-Jones

625 ENGINEERING POWER (2 or 3+0) 2 or 3 credits
Fundamental and basic design elements for power conversion, distribution and transmission systems using electrical, hydraulic or compressed air power. Prerequisite: E E 201; MECH 371. Danko

635 AUTOMATION AND ROBOTICS IN MINING (2+0 or 3) 2 or 3 credits
Sensors and actuator elements related to controlling of process, ground movement, and environmental parameters, robotization and remote manipulation in subsurface openings. Prerequisite: E E 201; MATH 283; MATH 285 or MECH 299. Danko

642 FUNDAMENTALS OF GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING (3+0 or 3) 3 or 4 credits
Weight-volume relationships and soil compactio;permeability and seepage;consolidation and settlement;shear strength and applicaation to lateral earth pressure,bearing capacity and slope stability. Prerequisite: CE 372 Daemen

645 ROCK EXCAVATION (2 or 3+0) 2 or 3 credits
Current theory and practice in drilling and blasting. Prerequisite: MINE 210. Daemen

648 ROCK MECHANICS (3+3) 4 credits
Mechanical behavior of rock; response to load changes; deformation, failure, discontinuity slip; rock testing. Engineering applications: slopes, pillars, tunnels; reinforcement design. Prerequisite: C E 372; GEOL 332 or equivalent. Daemen

651 MINING LAW (3+0) 3 credits
United States and foreign, federal and state laws affecting the mineral industry and pertaining to mineral land acquisition, corporations, ethics, mining, taxation, water, environment, labor, safety and welfare. Prerequisite: WT 203. Taylor

654 MINING AND SURFACE ENVIRONMENT (2+0) 2 credits
Effects of mining, milling, and smelting on the surface environment, and their control to allow maximum conservation and minimum waste of natural resources. Field trip. Mousset-Jones

656 MINING AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (3+0) 3 credits
Defining and applying the four critical elements of sustainable development: environment, economics, community and governance to the development, operations and design of mining projects. Prerequisite: Senior Standing. van Zyl

658 ROCK MECHANICS FOR UNDERGROUND MINING AND CONSTRUCTION (2 or 3+0) 2 or 3 credits
Empirical and mechanistic stability analysis and design of underground excavations in rock. Rock mass classifications. Continuum mechanics stress analyses. Influence of discontinuities on stability. Prerequisite: MINE 448 or equivalent. Daemen

668 BLOCK THEORY IN ROCK ENGINEERING (2+0 or 3+0) 2 or 3 credits
Geometry of blocks in jointed rock masses. Influence of block geometry on rock mass stability. Stability analyses of underground and surface excavations in jointed rock. Daemen

672 WORLD MINERAL ECONOMICS(3+0) 3 credits
Minerals in world affairs. Interdependence of nations on minerals and the economic and political problems caused by their unequal geographic distribution and divided political control. Prerequisite: WT 201, 202. (General capstone and diversity course.) Taylor

682 ECONOMICS OF THE BASE METALS (3+0) 3 credits
Systematic treatment of current aspects of international production and trade in base metals.

695 SPECIAL PROBLEMS 1 to 3 credits each
Individual research problems in mining engineering. Maximum of 6 credits.

701-702 ADVANCED MINING ENGINEERING 1 to 5 credits each 1 to 3 credits each
(a) General Mining, (b) excavation, (c) drilling, (d) blasting, (e) equipment, (f) transportation, (g) design, (h) surface mining, (j) underground mining, (k) safety, (m) ventilation, (n) mining economics, (p)mine administration, (r) mining law, (s) mineral economics, (t) history of mining, (u) mineral explorations, (v) rock mechanics, (w) mining conservation, (x) nonmetallic mining. These courses consist of either lectures, periodic conferances, supervised reading, laboratory or fieldwork. May be repeated more than once to pursue different studies.

725 HEAT MASS TRANSFORT (3+0) 3 credits
Analytical and munerical models relevant to heat and mass transport problems in hot underground openings and geothermal systems.

729 ADVANCED COMPUTER APPLICATION 1 to 3 credits
Computer Systems, languages, and economics. Major individual earth science project on computer. Prerequisite: C S 103 or MINE 324.

745 ADVANCED ROCK MECHANICS (2+3) 3 credits
Field and laboratory studies of applied rock mechanics. Prerequisite: MINE 448.

748 ADVANCED GEOTECH LABORATORY (1+6) 4 credits
Laboratory testing of soil and soil rock mixtures as related to civil, geological, and mining engineering projects. Tests will demonstrate geotechnical material properties and behavior. Prerequisite: Consent of instructor.

749 ADVANCED BLASTING METHODS DESIGN 1 to 3 credits
Modern theories in the use of explosives and the design of blasting systems. Prerequisite: MINE 445

790 MINERAL INDUSTRY SEMINAR 1 to 3 credits
Weekly lecture and discussions with invited speakers about their current research in chemical engineering.

795 COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION 1 to 3 credits S/U only
course is used by graduate programs to administer comprehensive examinations either as end of program comprehensive examinations or as qualifying examinations for doctoral candidates prior to being advanced to candidacy. Credits determined by each individual program.

796 PROFESSIONAL PAPER 1 to 3 credits S/U only
Report of an independant study of a mining engineering problem.

797 THESIS 1 to 6 credits

799 DISSERTATION 1 to 24 credits