In a first for the Philippine mining industry, Cagdianao Mining Corp., a subsidiary of Nickel Asia Corp., will offer a Mining Engineering degree, as a second course, to its qualified employees.
The course is initially offered to interested and qualified employees, but CMC is hoping the huge opportunity can be extended to members of the mining communities in the province of Dinagat.
Classes will be conducted inside the CMC minesite in Dinagat Island, as the firm has tied up with St. Paul University of Surigao to offer the Bachelor of Science in Mining Engineering at the minesite starting school year 2019-2020.
Dr. Antonio P. Talamayan, SPUS VP for Academic Affairs, confirmed that the special program in partnership with CMC has been approved by the Commission on Higher Education.
“This curriculum will innovate and deliver quality education. SPUS and CMC instructors will coordinate and communicate with each other throughout the course to produce topnotch engineers. This is the first time that we are partnering with the mining industry because I believe CMC is a responsible mining company,” said Talamayan.
In Caraga Region, only St. Paul in Surigao City and the Caraga State University in Butuan City offer mining engineering courses.
According to Salvador C. Cabauatan, CMC Administrative Group manager, the onsite classes are a huge opportunity for employees to pursue a dream of becoming mining engineers without having to leave the comforts of the workplace.
To be eligible for the course, Cabauatan said applicants must have already completed basic subjects based on the SPUS prospectus for BS Mining Engineering.
Cabauatan said St. Paul is banking on CMC’s generic resources, especially a solid lineup of mining engineers, geodetic engineers, geologists and chemical engineers, who can teach the subjects specified in the curriculum, and an array of state-of-the-art computer software for mining engineering courses.
“CMC mining experts will be accredited by CHED as instructors, plus the materials are already on site, and the actual operations is a natural laboratory for the course,” Cabauatan explained.