The study of mining engineering at Michigan Technological University has the earliest origins of any of the institution’s educational offerings. At its inception in 1885, the Michigan Mining School was intended to train men for careers in mines at home and abroad, and students benefitted from the proximity of their school to some of the world’s richest copper mines. As the Michigan Mining School grew into the Michigan College of Mines and later the Michigan College of Mining and Technology--expanding its offerings as the economy and student needs changed--its commitment to an outstanding education in mining engineering remained constant. In 1958, Walfrid Been, head of the Department of Mining Engineering, remarked that the rigor of the program might have led to a high attrition rate, but those who graduated “will be standouts” among mining engineers.

Although copper mining in the Keweenaw went dormant at the end of the 1960s, and the region largely deindustrialized, mining education continued at Michigan Tech. In 1976, the Department of Mining Engineering entered into a collaboration with industrial partners and opened the MTU Experimental Mine (also known as the Mining Research Lab) on Quincy Mining Company property in Hancock. The remarkable facility, which featured a classroom and an array of advanced equipment, allowed students to regain the hands-on opportunities lost when the mines closed. Students also furthered the practical aspects of their education by participating in competitions that pitted their mining skills against those of aspiring engineers from universities in other mining areas, such as Idaho, Colorado, Arizona, and South Dakota.

The mining engineering program entered a difficult period in the late 1980s, however. Despite student objections, Michigan Tech shuttered the Experimental Mine in 1987; it was resurrected in 1992 but closed again shortly thereafter. With budget challenges looming and enrollment in mining programs lower than other majors, the university proposed to combine the Department of Mining and Mineral Processing Engineering with its geological sciences division, a measure that was eventually approved. By the conclusion of the 2003-2004 academic year, mining engineering at Michigan Tech remained an option only for those pursuing master’s and doctoral degrees.

In 2012, mining was revived as a minor course of study for undergraduate students; plans later emerged for the university to introduce a new, multidisciplinary mining engineering major option, drawing on the contributions of faculty from across the campus but hosted by the Department of Geological and Mining Engineering and Sciences. Continuing the tradition established by the Michigan Mining School in 1885, the new program “prepares students to address the challenges of modern mining practices and positions them for a leadership role in the mining industry.”