Update: MUST, UBC and EduMine in Mongolia

EduMine, the School of Mining Engineering at the Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST) in Ulaanbaatar (figure below), and the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver are collaborating to provide online professional development in mining to MUST students. The platform for provision of this professional development is the Certificate in Mining Studies (CMS), a continuing education initiative developed jointly by UBC and EduMine. The CMS comprises an integration of short courses and online courses in various mining streams, and currently serves an audience of several hundred mining professionals around the world.

This initiative took an exciting step forward recently, with representatives from UBC and EduMine visiting MUST in Ulaanbaator to conclude the three-way agreement with MUST to provide the CMS program in Mongolia (figure below).

The delegates also met with representatives from the Oyu Tolgoi project, operated by international mining group Rio Tinto. The Oyu Tolgoi project, soon to be a major employer of mining industry workers in Mongolia, is expected to support up to 150 professionals through the CMS program over the next two years.

The Oyu Tolgoi project is located in Mongolia’s Southern Gobi region, and is forecasted to be one of the largest foreign investment undertakings in Mongolian history. Rio Tinto expects copper and gold production to begin in 2013, and ramp up to full production in 2018.

For more information on the joint collaboration between MUST, UBC and EduMine, see the MUST campus page on EduMine.