The Mining Life Cycle (Professional)

The CSM Professional Mining Life Cycle Programme equips students who will typically already be working in the mining industry, with the specialist skills and knowledge to advance their careers in the mining industry.  The course structure particularly addresses a major industry issue of business silos where specialists in different parts of the business do not have a broad understanding of all aspects of the mining life cycle.  Completion of this course will allow individuals to develop a pipeline view of the mining business from exploration through to mine closure that equips them for more senior roles.  This course is also an excellent programme for new entrants into the mining business as a fast-track career development tool.

The programme is suitable for engineering and geology graduates currently employed in the minerals industry, and other mining professionals with suitable experience.  The blended learning approach allows these industry staff to undertake accredited educational studies while maintaining their industry work roles.

This programme is offered as a one year Postgraduate Certificate (60 credits).  This is delivered as a part-time, blended learning course with three short residential periods of one to two weeks.

The Camborne School of Mines is an internationally recognised centre of mining education within the University of Exeter, one of the UK's leading universities.

The course will develop a broad mining value chain view and involve multidisciplinary study of technical, business, social and commercial aspects of the global mining industry. It has been designed specifically to permit internationally located in-work learning using an industry aligned blended learning approach and to promote career advancement.

The combined science and business skills development ensures a highly vocational programme accessible to experienced students from many different technical and commercial backgrounds in the mining industry. Teaching, learning and assessment approaches are aligned to business practice but within a rigorous academic framework.

In addition to gaining the headline qualification, the programme will also deliver the following unique benefits.

• Establishing international networks with industry professionals and across specialisms
• View world class mines during the mine tour
• A life cycle/value chain view of the mining industry
• A course particularly designed for those currently working in industry
• Industry focused and immediate relevance to employment role
• Involves both technical and professional skills development

Various course delivery methods and assessment types, aligned to the business focussed course objectives and student, are utilized to develop well-rounded mining professionals with broad knowledge of interdisciplinary mine-site problem solving and critical industry insight.

This one year course provides a robust understanding of the complete mining life-cycle from exploration and development to extraction and processing methods to mine closure.

Your part-time PG Certificate - The Mining Life Cycle (Professional) programme is a 1 year programme of study at National Qualification Framework (NQF) level 7 (as confirmed against the FHEQ). This programme is divided into 1 ‘Stage’.  The programme is also divided into units of study called ‘modules’ which are assigned a number of ‘credits’. The credit rating of a module is proportional to the total workload, with 1 credit being nominally equivalent to 10 hours of work.

The Programme encompasses four Modules each of 15 credits.  The CSM Professional Mining Life Cycle Programme also forms Year 1 of the 3 year CSM Professional MSc Mining Engineering Programme.

The following tables describe the programme and constituent modules. Constituent modules may be updated, deleted or replaced as a consequence of the annual programme review of this programme. Details of the modules currently offered may be obtained from the College web site

https://intranet.exeter.ac.uk/emps/

Credit

The programme consists of 60 credits the pass mark for award of credit in an individual PG module is 50%.

Condonement is the process that allows you to progress to the next stage (or, in the final stage, receive the award), where you have failed to attain the pass mark (i.e. 50%) in the required number of credits (i.e. 180 credits). Across this programme, up to 20 credits can be condoned, provided your overall credit weighted mean is at least 50% (including the marks for any failed modules).  You will not be allowed reassessment in the condoned credit.  You must pass the modules marked with a 'Yes' in the 'non-condonable' column in the tables above. The pass mark for these modules is 50%.

Assessment and Awards

The award will normally be based on at least 60 at NQF level 7

Classification

The marking of modules and the classification of awards broadly corresponds to the following percentage marks:

Postgraduate Degrees

Distinction   70%+

Merit            60-69%

Pass            50-59%

Full details of  PGT programmes assessment regulations can be found in the Teaching Quality Assurance Manual (TQA) on the University of Exeter website.  Generic marking criteria are also published here.

Please see the Teaching and Quality Assurance Manual for further guidance.

Personal and Academic tutoring: It is University policy that all Colleges should have in place a system of academic and personal tutors. The role of academic tutors is to support you on individual modules; the role of personal tutors is to provide you with advice and support for the duration of the programme and extends to providing you with details of how to obtain support and guidance on personal difficulties such as accommodation, financial difficulties and sickness. You can also make an appointment to see individual teaching staff.

Students have access to good computing and library facilities at the Penryn Campus. Computer-based exercises and web-based learning materials are a feature of the programme, which can be accessed via the internet. IT Services provide a range of central services, including open and training clusters of PCs (available on a 24/7 basis); and available during residentials held at CSM. Network access is available from all rooms in the hall of residence on site. The Learning Resource Centre contains a library of 70,000 volumes and some specialist collections. In addition, students have full access to the central University of Exeter library, including the electronic library resources.

Online Module study resources provide materials for modules that you are registered for, in addition to some useful subject and IT resources. Generic study support resources, library and research skills, past exam papers, and the 'Academic Honesty and Plagiarism' module are also available through the student portal (http://vle.exeter.ac.uk).

Feedback sessions to be held at residetnials enable students and taff to jointly participate in the management and review of the teaching and learning provision.

All applications are considered individually on merit. The University is committed to an equal opportunities policy with respect to gender, age, race, sexual orientation and/or disability when dealing with applications. It is also committed to widening access to higher education to students from a diverse range of backgrounds and experience.

Candidates must satisfy the general admissions requirements and English Language requirements of the University of Exeter.

Applicant who do not have the traditional qualifications to meet the entry requirements are also encouraged to apply and will be considered through the use of an Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning (APEL) scheme. This involves assessment of qualifications, accredited post education qualifications and training, in-house training, job roles and dimensions. These are scored against a template and benchmarked roles and qualifications. The overall aim is to assess whether the applicant possess the equivalent to a QAA graduate skill set and would therefore be capable of entering and completing the Postgraduate Certificate Course.

The APEL scheme comprises a toting up system that involves separate numerical scores for job role and dimension, traditional academic qualifications, accredited vocation qualifications and in-house training. The standard entry requirement for a PG Certificate would be a degree and the APEL score for acceptance is aligned to the score achieved for a degree or international equivalent. The job role equivalent to this would be, for example, a mining engineer in a significantly sized mine; typically a graduate role. Different job roles have been compared against the QAA graduate skills descriptors to benchmark them with respect to the generic skills and subject specialist components. The vocational training is again benchmarked to the UK qualification framework allowing for international comparisons. In-house training is capped at a nominal very low score. The sum of the scores in each of the four catagories is compared to the entry level in order to provide an objective assessment and for a decision on acceptance for entry onto the course

The APEL scheme operates for entry requirement, not for credit or exemption from any part of the course.

Each academic programme in the University is subject to an agreed College assessment and marking strategy, underpinned by institution-wide assessment procedures.

The security of assessment and academic standards is further supported through the appointment of External Examiners for each programme. External Examiners have access to draft papers, course work and examination scripts. They are required to attend the Board of Examiners and to provide an annual report. Annual External Examiner reports are monitored at both College and University level. Their responsibilities are described in the University's code of practice.  See the University's TQA Manual for details.

Certain programmes are subject to accreditation and/or review by professional and statutory regulatory bodies (PSRBs).