Top Mining Engineering Schools in 2019

Mineral and mining engineering is a discipline which applies knowledge and skills in science and technology to the process of extracting minerals from the earth, in the safest and most efficient ways.

If you’re interested in studying a mining engineering course at university, the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2019 features 50 top schools for the subject worldwide, all ranked based on a methodology which assesses four important indicators.

Read on for a region-by-region breakdown of the world’s top mining engineering schools in 2019 – including an initial overview of the top 20 – or click here for the full ranking table. And if you’re interested in studying a master’s in this subject, you can read our guide here.  

Currently, 14 of the world’s top mining engineering schools are based in the US and Canada, with both locations claiming spots in the top 20. A further two US universities make the top 30, both of which climbed a total of four places in the ranking this year: Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) (from 27^th to 23^rd) and the University of Colorado at Boulder (from 34^th to joint 30^th).

Canada has six entrants in the mining engineering ranking, including four in the top 20, led by McGill University in third place, while Queen’s University isn’t far behind in seventh.

In Europe, the UK leads the mining engineering schools ranking with the most representatives (four) this year, including one in the top 20, and the University of Southampton sealing the top 30 list in joint 30^th place, after improving its position by an impressive 12 spots.

Nearby in Ireland, two universities enter the mining engineering schools ranking for the first time this year, both of which are in the top 200 of the QS World University Rankings® 2019: Trinity College Dublin (TCD) and University College Dublin (UCD).

Other participants with two representatives in the ranking also include Germany and Russia – the former claiming one university in the top 20. In Russia, two universities are ranked for mining engineering, with St.Petersburg Mining University in the top 20, while the National University of Science and Technology ‘MISIS’ is 42^nd.

With just one representative each, the Netherlands, France, Italy, and Spain follow; of the four, only the Netherlands is home to a mining engineering school in the top 20, while the rest are all new to the ranking, and include notable entrants such as Université PSL (Paris Sciences & Lettres) (21^st), Politecnico di Torino (24^th), and Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (34^th).