Is Geometallurgy Teachable? A challenge for the new Erasmus Mundus EMerald

designate any kind of advanced ore characterisation prior to mineral processing operations while in fact it should clearly refer to a multidisciplinary integration of geological, mining, metallurgical, environmental and economic information into a single orebody model.
In order to instil the best available geometallurgical practices in the professional world, it seems essential to break the traditional cleavages among disciplines and educate a new generation of engineers. The Erasmus Mundus EMerald “Master in Georesources Engineering” program initiated by four European universities under the coordination of University of Liege, has been designed to exactly tackle this challenge. It is not surprising that this program has been set up by universities having a long tradition in mixing a double perspective of geology and engineering (Nancy; Lulea; Liege and Freiberg). Geometallurgy requires both an excellent understanding of the natural variability and complexity of an ore and a comprehensive overview of the techniques available to extract and concentrate any valuable material.
The course program has been designed to achieve a right balance between knowledge of mineral resources (geology, resource characterisation, reserve estimation, modelling) and processing (comminution, preconcentration, leaching, waste disposal,...). It also includes a broader view on life cycle analysis and urban mining. A series of professional seminars, suggested by an industrial advisory board, shed light on strategic issues, economic and environmental challenges, corporate social responsibilities, etc.
Mobility and multicultural experience is an added-value of the Erasmus Mundus experience which definitely contributes to breeding engineers for tomorrow.