Mining has been embedded in the public consciousness as a dirty, non-innovative, outdated and environmentally harmful industry. Proper education, especially the academic one, becomes crucial to successfully change this image. This article depicts the initial assumptions of the international project Master in Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Integration in Mining (MEITIM), co-financed by EIT Raw Materials, that aims to diagnose the current state of Polish higher education in the field of mining at, among others, the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology (WUST), concerning the experience of the Technical University of Madrid (UPM) and Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT). The MEITIM project allowed identifying the directions of necessary changes in the didactic process as an indispensable set of skills and knowledge for a future mining graduate. Such activities are dictated by many guidelines and arrangements, among others, at the level of the European Commission or key industry institutions such as the International Council on Mining and Metals. These are key competencies that require significant changes in university curricula supporting sustainable development goals in innovative mining. The authors show that there is a link between the condition of the mining industry in Poland, its reputation, and the number of people who want to study mining.
The mining industry in the world has undergone a major metamorphosis in recent years. These changes have forced higher education to modify the curricula in a thorough way to meet the mining entrepreneurs’ needs. The paper’s scope is to answer the research question—how to attract students and implement Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in higher education in mining engineering? Based on the case of international cooperation carried out at the Faculty of Geoengineering, Mining and Geology of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology (WUST) within the framework of educational projects co-financed by European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities Raw Materials (EIT RM), the authors prove that the idea of sustainable development can be introduced into the system of teaching mining specialists at every level of their higher education (engineering and master’s studies), through developing their new competencies, introducing new subjects taking into account innovative solutions and technologies, or placing great emphasis on environmental and social aspects. Examples of new curricula show a good way to change into the new face of a mining engineer.
In underground mines of copper ores, which are situated in Lower Silesia in SW Poland, the most common and dangerous threats pose seismic tremors and rock bursts. Copper ore exploitation is carried out in three mines, which are owned by KGHM Polish Copper JSC, i.e. Lubin mine, Rudna mine and Polkowice-Sieroszowice mine. Despite many rock burst preventive operations carried out over several decades of mining activity and aimed at counteracting seismic dynamic events, these phenomena have not been eliminated. The applied rock burst prevention measures only limit or mitigate the effects of seismic events. In mining, a concept of seismicity is used, which is defined as the tendency of an intact rock mass to seismic tremors induced by mining work in an area that was previously aseismic. Tremors and their results i.e. rock bursts affect not only excavations and underground infrastructure, but also the terrain surface. In the KGHM’s mines, seismic activity is monitored by the Mining Geophysics Stations. The number, coordinates and energy of tremors and rock bursts are registered, which helps determine the rock mass reaction to the adopted system and operation technology. The main purpose of the paper is to analyse seismic dynamic phenomena damaging mining excavations, i.e. rock bursts, in the Lubin mine, which took place from the beginning of the mine’s operation in 1975 to 2016 (over 41 years) and to identify and investigate geological and mining factors (parameters) facilitating the growth of seismic and rock burst hazards. The following factors (parameters) favourable for the occurrence of dynamic phenomena with damaging effects in excavations were taken into consideration: the seismic activity of the rock mass (spontaneous and provoked tremors), the deposit depth and thickness, geomechanical properties of rocks, exploitation systems, the method of elimination of mined-out space, the occurrence of gobs, tectonic disturbances and the life time of excavations. The results of the observation of selected parameters made it possible to determine the causes of rock bursts as well as to evaluate the impact of the exploitation system including the technology and rock burst prevention on seismic and rock burst hazard. Moreover, seismic activity of the mining division with the highest number and energy of rock bursts was analysed. The effectiveness of rock burst prevention measures used in this division was assessed too. The results of the analyses indicated some interdependencies between factors that may affect the phenomena discussed.
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