The University of British Columbia’s (UBC’s) Sauder School of Business, in Canada, will introduce an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) degree in strategic mining management in September to provide professionals with integrated business and operational training, as well as broader social and environmental perspectives to lead the industry.

The university says the programme was developed at the request of the sector, which is bracing itself for the demographic shift in leadership as baby boomers – people born between 1945 and 1964 – retire.

The 21-month part-time EMBA was developed jointly by Sauder and UBC’s Norman B Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering with an advisory council of senior mining executives.

The programme will be taught by “leading” businesspeople, mining faculty members and private-sector experts and is aimed at providing students with a “comprehensive” view of the industry and equipping them to manage its operational and financial decisions at the highest level.

“The Sauder School’s strong ties to Vancouver’s global mining community and partnership with the Keevil Institute, which is North America’s leading mining engineering school, have allowed us to create an unparalleled educational experience and it is set to make an important contribution to the future of mining in British Columbia and the mining industry globally,” says Sauder Grosvenor Professor of Cities, Business Economics and Public Policy Dean Robert Helsley.

He believes that the EMBA programme is tailored to suit mining professionals working worldwide.

Helsley notes that participants will take interactive online modules and come together four times during the programme for week-long residencies in Vancouver, Canada; London, in the UK, and Santiago, in Chile.

He says that in these leading centres for mining and finance, participants will learn from local experts and professionals and receive firsthand experience with world leading finance companies and mining operations.

“Over the next five to ten years, many mining executives will be retiring. The industry needs a new wave of leadership,” says lead industry partner for the programme’s development Goldcorp strategy VP Rohan Hazelton, adding that the graduates of this programme will be set to take on the leadership roles the mining industry needs going forward.