Mining Engineering Technician

Sudbury sits on one of the richest nickel and copper basins on earth, and its mines need technicians who can survey drifts, plan stopes and monitor ground conditions. Mining Engineering Technician is a two-year Ontario College Diploma of four semesters, taught at Cambrian College’s Barrydowne campus in the heart of that mining district.

Semester one covers Introduction to Mining, Surveying I - Mining, Geology I, Chemistry for the Geosciences, Algebra I and Spreadsheets for Business. Semester two adds Mining Methods, Mine Engineering Graphics, Surveying II - Theory, Surveying II - Lab, Geology II, Algebra II and Mineral Resources Field Camp. In the second year you study Geological Fieldwork, Mining Health and Safety, Technical Computer Applications, Mine Layouts and Planning and Technical Math III, then finish with Mine Blasting Techniques, Mine Ventilation I, Ground Control, Intro To Structural Geology, Mineral Resources Evaluation and Applied Mine Survey.

Cambrian’s mining faculty come from industry, and the programme closes first year with a 10-day field school that puts surveying, geology and mine methods to work outside the classroom. You draft mine layouts in AutoCAD and use the Microsoft Office Suite, both free to students, on a Windows PC, because the page warns that Apple machines cannot run the programme software. Graduates can seek C.Tech. certification through OACETT and may enter semester five of Cambrian’s Mining Engineering Technology advanced diploma to continue toward technologist level.

Graduates of the Mining Engineering Technician diploma work as mine surveyor, ground control technician, ventilation technician, core technician, mine planning technician and exploration field assistant, on surface and underground operations. It suits people curious about rocks and geology, happy working underground or in remote camps, and keen to build a technical career in Canada’s mining sector.