The impact of industry supported field courses on the education and professional training of Geological Engineers at Queen’s University, Canada

The capstone Geological Engineering course taught at Queen’s University for two decades has given students the opportunity to explore the mining cycle by visiting mine, mill, smelter and tailings sites over a seven day field school. Learning about the challenges and potential solutions during the site visits from the passionate and creative site guides was very effective and inspiring. Many students reported that learning about these sites and projects inspired them for the first time to think about a career in mining. Many of the students who took these courses are working in the geological engineering aspects of the mining industry now, perhaps inspired by this course.