A donation of $40,000 from The Doe Run Co. will help equip a new mining survey laboratory that is being built at Missouri University of Science and Technology. The lab will help provide innovative and practical learning opportunities for future mining engineers.

“Doe Run has been a strong supporter of Missouri S&T’s efforts in educating mining engineers,” says Dr. Samuel Frimpong, the Robert H. Quenon Chair of Mining Engineering at Missouri S&T. “This donation provides additional funding towards our $350,000 state-of-the-art industry-funded Mining Survey Facility that will be located in McNutt Hall.”

The new facility will be equipped with GPS systems, total stations and data loggers to teach students how to measure, calculate and map relative geometric advances, material volumes and target definitions for mine planning in surface and underground mines. Doe Run’s donation brings the total raised for the facility to $215,000. 

“Mining plays a significant role in our local workforce and economy, and is expected to add 11,000 jobs in the U.S. in the next two decades,” says Jerry Pyatt, president and CEO of Doe Run. “Educating students who will become our skilled scientists and engineers is critical to sustaining the industry. By investing in quality institutions like Missouri S&T, we’re able to continue providing the mineral and metal resources we use in everyday products that provide power, protection and convenience.”

Many of Missouri S&T’s graduates work for Doe Run. The company’s Southeast Missouri Mining and Milling Division (SEMO), located about an hour from the S&T campus, frequently provides S&T students with first-hand experience as participants in the university’s Explosives Camp, educational tours and as summer interns.

The company also contributed $250,000 towards Missouri S&T’s new Experimental Mine Building and sponsored several of S&T’s Innovations in Mining Engineering conferences. This year, Pyatt is a keynote speaker at the conference that will be held Sept. 9 – 12 in St. Louis.