ZIMBABWE School of Mines (ZSM) is in talks with the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe (Caaz) to create a centre that will train students in drone piloting for geological surveying, NewsDay Business can reveal.
Students will also learn to interpret the data for mining applications, equipping them with skills seen as critical for the future of mining and resource management.
The initiative reflects a growing trend to integrate technology and data analytics into traditional mining education.
By combining hands-on drone piloting with analytical skills, ZSM seeks to prepare a new generation of mining professionals who can leverage modern tools for safer, more efficient, and sustainable mining operations.
“What we have done, which we think is going to be a game-changer, is the introduction of registering the school as an approved training organisation with the Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe, which we are in the process of doing. And we hope by next year that it will be done. So, this is going to allow us to train our students in geology and surveying as drone pilots,” ZSM training and operations manager Martin January told NewsDay Business on the sidelines of the just-ended Association of Mine Managers Annual Conference and General Meeting held in Victoria Falls, recently.
“And not only as drone pilots, so that they can interpret the drone data and apply it in mining operations. The way I’m seeing it, these are the skills of the future. I think as we go forward, we might need to introduce skills like data analytics for mining operations and interpretation.”
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He added that ZSM had introduced new courses in mine occupational health and safety, cutting and polishing, gemmology, foundry technology, and iron and steel making.
“All along, we have been on the path of a primary extractive industry. But with the introduction of these courses, we are creating skills that will move to value addition and beneficiation. I want to say for our gemstone industry, we had a very good collaboration with MMCZ [Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe] that has brought in the equipment for us to carry out and to train for the skills,” January said.
ZSM is also introducing training on innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI).
“There is AI and a lot of robotics and automation. So, we have introduced those aspects in our curriculum so that our students also move with the technology,” January said.
“But the skills that are then required by industry are also changing with time.”