Mining MBAs, LLBs, and LLMs. How to become a mining lawyer and/or director

Two other Canadian universities already offer Mining MBAs.   York University, Schulich School of Business has announced as follows:

The Schulich School of Business plans to launch an MBA specialization that will develop and mentor the next generation of business leaders in one of the global economy’s most vital and challenging sectors, the mining industry. The MBA specialization in Global Mining Management will launch in Toronto, the mining equity financing capital of the world, in September 2012.

Laurentian University about eight months ago got this announcement on to the web:

Michael Lesher, director of mining initiatives at Laurentian University, said the new School of Mines, announced on June 23, 2011 will take the institution’s existing expertise in fields related to mining and put them under one umbrella.    “We’ve already been doing many of the things that mining schools have. We’ve got one of the top mineral exploration programs in the world, one of the best mining engineering programs in the world, and we do environmental restoration like nobody’s business,” he said. Lesher said there are many places Laurentian as a university “can be doing more” with mining, including specialized professional education. For instance, Lesher said the new school would bring with it “an executive MBA in mining.”

As noted on Wikipedia, the Indian School of Mines appears to offer a mining MBA.  I quote;

The Indian School of Mines (ISM) (Hindi: भारतीय खनि विद्यापीठ विश्वविद्यालय) is a fully residential and co-educational university located in the mineral-rich belt of India in the city of Dhanbad, Jharkhand. It was established in 1926 on the lines of the Royal School of Mines, London. What started as an institution to impart mining education has graduated into a full-fledged technical institution of international acclaim offering a host of programmes like B. Tech., M. Tech., M. Sc. Tech.,integrated M.Sc., integrated M.Sc.tech. and MBA.

Much more useful, in my humble opinion, would be a degree in mining law.  Soon you can get one from Western University.  Here is part of the announcement:

A Toronto law firm is donating $750,000 to Western University’s law school to establish a mining law program that will be the first of its kind in Canada.   The donation from Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, one of Canada’s leading resource-focused business law firms, will prepare students for careers in the mining law and finance sector.

The Scottish university, the University of Dundee Center for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy already offer an LL.M.  They describe it thus:

This degree is aimed at mineral industry professionals, both in government and industry, who wish to develop their understanding of the legal and regulatory framework within which the mineral industry operates and of the key policy issues and challenges in this sector.

If you want to know what you will have to study to get such a degree, I recommend going to their website.  Although I would have thought the circulum would have been heavier on contract law, international law, labor law, and conflict of laws.  Well we all have our ideals of what constitutes the vast arena of mining law for national and international companies.   They will never ask me, a mere blogger, to lecture.

A word of caution when deciding to come to Canada to do a mining MBA.   See this link which writes in part:

With the likes of The Rotman School of Business, The Richard Ivey School of Business and The Schulich School of Business within its borders, Canada is well on its way to becoming a global contender. Undoubtedly, there is still a long way to go. Canada is the host to only three schools in the top 50 full time MBA programs in the Financial Times‘ MBA ranking. US schools crowd the list with more than 20 schools in the top 50.

In Canada the majority of the business schools, and to a larger extent the universities and colleges receive government support. The same legislation that provides them with support also dictates the tuition ceilings they must adhere to. These provincial restrictions can prove detrimental. However, some previously state funded schools have decided to shun the help and have migrated to a privatized model allowing them to raise tuition to market value and compete head on with top tier international programs. Some Canadian schools that have successfully privatized are York University’s Schulich School of Business, Queen’s School of Business and UBC’s Sauder School of Business.

If that is the worst, there is nothing to worry about.