Mining Minors & Concentrations

School of Mining and Mineral Resources

The Sustainable Mineral Resources minor studies the interconnected environmental, social, technical, and economic issues surrounding the sustainable and responsible production and use of non-renewable mineral resources. Students learn to work with people across disciplines, cultures, and national borders and value differing beliefs as they implement data-driven decision making, effective communication, and critical thinking to bridge the gap between humans’ ever-increasing demand for minerals and societies’ changing priorities toward the environment and communities. Students can take courses to match interests: Environment, Mining & Recycling, Leadership & Communication, Business & Economics, Data Analytics & Automation, Health & Safety, and Society & Policy. Diverse perspectives are provided by faculty from disciplines across the Colleges of Engineering, Science, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Agriculture & Life Sciences, Architecture, Planning & Landscape Architecture, the Eller College of Management, and Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health. Students engage in experiential learning on technical, economic, social, and environmental issues.

James E. Rogers College of Law

University of Arizona Law's Master of Legal Studies (MLS) fully online degree with a concentration in Mining Law and Policy introduces lawyers and mining professionals to the range of legal issues that arise in the acquisition of mineral properties and the related financing, mining and environmental considerations faced by the modern mining industry. 

The degree takes advantage of the world-class educational resources in mining and mining law available at The University of Arizona, including the James E. Rogers College of Law and the J. David Lowell Institute for Mineral Resources (which includes connections with the university's public health, science, and engineering departments). As a result of these resources and the strong collaboration with other departments who are undertaking mining-related research across campus, we are able to offer you both broad and deep training in a variety of aspects of mining, from the business side of mining to regulatory compliance, tax, environmental, and concerns of indigenous peoples.

James E. Rogers College of Law

The University of Arizona Law Global Mining Law program fosters productive dialogue, research, and training in global mining and natural resources law and development. The Global Mining Law program provides training to both lawyers and non-lawyers from around the globe, engages in cutting-edge research on issues related to all aspects of global mining law and policy, fosters productive dialogue among various stakeholders in the mining and natural resources sector, and develops innovative real-world solutions to law and policy issues of importance to mining, natural resource, and energy development.

Ideally located in southern Arizona, a region rich in mining industry and leaders in natural resources, the program offers a variety of degree and non-degree training opportunities, including:

1. Master’s degrees with a Mining Law and Policy focus for both lawyers (an LLM) and non-lawyers (an MLS) — both offered online and on campus.
2. Certificate courses, including online programs, for those involved in mining-related work, including executives, lawyers, managers, engineers, and government officials.
3. Executive education, annual conferences, and workshops for those involved in mining and energy developments.