Departments

Mining and Environmental Geology

About Us

History of the Department

The Department of Mining and Environmental Geology in this University was established in 2000 as a response to a challenge posed by the Limpopo Provincial Government to the two universities in the Province. The Provincial Government observed that inspite of the fact that mining is one of the top economic nodes of the province, there was no training programme in mining in the two universities. In response to this challenge, University of Venda mandated the School of Environmental Sciences to develop a Mining Programme for the University.

The School responded in earnest and established the current Department of Mining and Environmental Geology (MEG). Consultations took place between UNIVEN and the mining houses and the Mining Qualifications Authority.  These consultations provided an assessment of the programme viability in terms of the size and shape of the curriculum, level of demand for the programme in the region, the employment prospects of graduates and partnerships for resource sharing between MEG and the mining houses.

These inputs were incorporated in the MEG programme development. To date MEG offers several qualifications, and within five years the Department has grown from 57 students in 2000 to 350 students in 2005.

The Department of MEG has been a most successful and gratifying response to Limpopo Provincial Government's challenge. The Department has made a tremendous contribution by providing access to the youth of the region to the mining profession. It has linked the youths with a profession that their fore bearers patronized merely as unskilled mineworkers. In this context, the MEG curricular has helped to advance the mission of linking UNIVEN with the needs of its hinterland community.