In 1940, The United States had 77 accredited mining schools with a combined undergraduate AIME membership (precursor to SME) of nearly 3,500. Today just 14 schools remain with under 600 enrolled. We only produce 170 mining engineers annually, with half of the US mining workforce retiring by 2029. Mining has tens of thousands of open positions while mineral production slips. In 2017 the US made 1.27MM tons of US copper; in 2025 America only made 1.0MM tons even as global demand increased.
The White House has called for doubling mining enrollment in the next two years. The Mining and Minerals Education Foundation seeks the support of like-minded organizations and individuals to achieve this goal at the University of Arizona. We ask mining companies, vendors, and members of the SME, AMIGOS, SABC, AMA, WIM, WAIME, etc. to join us for the First Annual “Mining the Mall for Mining Talent” at Homecoming 2026.
Two LHD’s and an underground drill will backdrop the mall event, staffed during the school day on Friday and Homecoming on Saturday. We are seeking prize donations and volunteers. Each prize will have a sign-up sheet, and we will draw before the football game. Scholarships will be advertised in the form of oversized checks from the donor with ‘YOUR NAME HERE’ on the payee line. If a winning student is accepted to a minerals related degree program the following semester, the scholarship pays to their account. If not, it will be given to another student who enrolls. The goal is to deliver several pages of contact info to the School of Mining for potential students and their parents.
Mining offers some of the best paid, AI resilient technical jobs across nearly any field a student could be interested in, with scholarships and internships to get kids through school debt free. Please consider donating mining memorabilia, tours of mines/proving grounds, scholarships, or your time. We need all the volunteers we can get to staff the mall and talk to families about mining careers. Please reach out if you can help!
Best Regards,
Larry Dykers Eben Robinson Scott Shields
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