University of Nevada gets boost from gold miners

Barrick Gold (ABX-T, ABX-N), Goldcorp (GG-T, G-N) and Newmont Mining (NMC-T, NEM-N) have donated US$2.4 million to the University of Nevada, Reno’s mining engineering program. The money will help develop new faculty positions, student scholarships and grants.

Jeff Thompson, dean of the University’s College of Science and interim director of the Mackay School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, noted the importance of the funding in a prepared statement.

“We’re grateful for the wonderful and continued support we have from these mining companies, and the industry as a whole,” said Thompson. “All of their contributions have lead to a successful beginning of building the mining engineering portion of our academic offerings, with more to come for the future. It’s successful partnerships such as this between higher education and the mining industry that help build the education base and sustain local and state economies.”

As part of the donation two new professorships were created, the Goldcorp Chair of Mineral Engineering and the Barrick Professor of Mining Engineering, both at the Mackay School.

Carl Nesbitt, associate professor and the Goldcorp Chair of Mineral Engineering at the university, said the endowment is already visible, in a statement.

“The first semester went tremendously well,” said Nesbitt. “The industry support made it all possible. We’re offering two new classes in the fall semester.”

The program provides both in-class and web-based education.

Nesbitt, who earned his doctorate from the MacKay School, has been teaching metallurgical engineering for more than 20 years and has been involved in research for 18 years specializing in both carbon and recovering metals.

“Hiring two faculty members at once helped us get to a critical mass quickly,” said Nesbitt. “We can brainstorm and we trust each other. It’s nice to have someone who speaks the same hydrometallurgy language.”

Thom Seal, who was recently named Barrick Professor of Mining Engineering, echoed Nesbitt’s enthusiasm, pointing out that online technology helps broaden the faculty.

“Eventually, we’re hoping to team up online with experts at other universities who could teach their specialties in mineral processing,” said Seal, who specializes in enhanced metal extraction. “Ultimately, we’re hoping to build the program into a leader, preparing metallurgical engineers for the mining industry well into the future.”

Seal earned his doctorate from the University of Idaho and worked more than 30 years in the industry, before retiring from his post as manager of metallurgy technology from Newmont in 2008.