The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) received a US$7 million investment from mining company Freeport-McMoRan to support the restart of its mining engineering degree program, scheduled to begin in 2027. This financial boost will allow the program to be developed and implemented in response to the growing need for professionals in the mining sector nationwide.
UTEP’s plan calls for admitting up to 120 students per year and training about 100 mining engineers annually, making it the only university in Texas to offer this major. The relaunch was announced in 2024 with an initial $20 million in support from the Board of Regents of the University System of Texas. Implementation is subject to approval by academic accreditors and state authorities.
“The smartphone in your pocket contains about 30 different elements, including copper, gold, silver, lithium and rare earths. Without mining, much of our daily lives would be impossible,” explained UTEP President Heather Wilson. “America needs more mining engineers who can safely extract these minerals and restore the environment. This collaboration with Freeport-McMoRan will help train that new generation.”
Since 1964, when UTEP closed its former mining program due to low demand in the region, the institution has maintained related majors such as geology, civil engineering, metallurgy and environmental science. The return of the degree also marks a reconnection with the university’s origins, founded in 1914 as a mining school.
Josh Olmsted, Freeport-McMoRan’s president and chief operating officer for the Americas, noted the long-standing relationship between the company and UTEP: “Several UTEP graduates already work at our operations. We expect this new program to expand that collaboration and help us meet the global demand for essential materials.”
Currently, U.S. universities graduate about 300 mining engineers a year, but projections point to more than 500 annual openings over the next decade. The reactivation of the program at UTEP seeks to help close that gap.
College of Engineering Dean Ken Meissner noted that this investment has a direct impact on students: “We are grateful for this transformative grant that will prepare more young people for a key industry in the national economy.”
Freeport-McMoRan, headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona, is one of the world’s largest producers of copper and gold, as well as the leading global supplier of molybdenum, an element used in steel alloys. The company operates in the Americas, Europe and Indonesia.
With more than 5,000 students, many of them bilingual, UTEP’s College of Engineering is positioned as an attractive hotbed for a mining industry with global reach.
