PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The New South Wales minerals sector has offered A$1.14-million worth of scholarships to encourage enrolments for mining engineering degrees at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

UNSW School of Mining engineering head Paul Hagan said on Friday that the enrolments for mining engineering degrees had plummeted to such lows that the mining sector was fearing it would create a "desperate shortage" of graduates within a few years.

To avert this, 25 scholarships have been launched for 2017, offering A$48 000 over three to four years, to students starting either first- or second-year studies in Mining Engineering at the UNSW.

He said the scholarships aimed to encourage students who were turning away from mining degrees because they thought there were no jobs following the end of the mining boom.

"What they don’t realise is that the next one is already gathering steam – and will be in full flight by the time they graduate.

“Mining is incredibly cyclical, and the peaks and troughs are dramatic,” Hagan said.

“Which means that there’s a peak in enrolments just as demand for jobs collapse. We saw student intake peak in 2013, and enrolments have fallen fast since.

“But the mining industry is on the upswing again, which spells disaster in two or three years as the mining boom returns and there aren’t enough mining engineers entering the workforce.”

At UNSW, student intake has fallen year-on-year by an average of 58%, from the record intake of 107 students in 2013, to just six students in 2016.

“This is the sixth mining cycle I’ve been through, so I know what happens next – demand for jobs will soar, but there won’t be enough trained engineers to hire,” said Hagan.

“Anyone enrolling now will be in top demand in three years, but students don’t perceive it that way.”

The scholarships are being offered by a fund created jointly by the New South Wales mining industry and the university, known as the New South Wales Minerals Industry-UNSW Education Trust, established in 1999. Recipients receive assistance in securing industry training, and scholarships are open to Australian citizens or permanent residents who enrol at UNSW in 2017. Applications close on January 31, 2017.