EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14/CBS4) — The University of Texas at El Paso announced on Tuesday a $7 million investment from mining industry leader Freeport-McMoRan to support UTEP’s planned re-start of the mining engineering degree program.
The investment will support the program development and implementation as UTEP re-starts mining engineering to meet a national need.
Mining is a $10 billion-plus industry in Texas. Energy that powers our electric system and aggregates that build our roads depend on mining. The smartphone in your pocket has about 30 elements in it including copper, gold, silver, lithium and cobalt as well as rare-earth elements that make the colors on the screen. America has a shortage of mining engineers who can find valuable minerals, get them out of the ground safely, and restore the land when mining is done,” said UTEP President Heather Wilson. “We are so thankful that Freeport-McMoRan has partnered with us to expand mining engineering for Texas and the nation by educating the next generation of mining engineers…