Luxbacher, Hahn highlight the importance of mining in Arizona
‘This building was built in 1889 as the School of Mines, so mining has been at the very roots of the University of Arizona,’ says Craig M. Berge Dean David W. Hahn about Old Main.
David W. Hahn, Craig M. Berge Dean of the College of Engineering, and Kray Luxbacher, Gregory H. and Lisa S. Boyce Leadership Chair of Mining and Geological Engineering, recently spoke with KOLD about how mining stays relevant to Arizona and the nation at large.
"What's happening now in the United States is a deep recognition that we need to produce more of the critical minerals and mining materials that we need. We can't look to foreign sources for that," Hahn said. "So it's an exciting time."
They also discussed the legacy of mining on the University of Arizona campus. What was originally the School of Mines is now the Old Main building. Since then, the U of A mining engineering program has evolved, offering learning opportunities in a variety of formats like the San Xavier Mining Laboratory.
"We can train everyone from our undergraduate and graduate students to new hourly workers for underground mine," said Luxbacher, executive director and head of the School of Mining Engineering and Mineral Resources. "So we're really attempting to train the citizens of Arizona for this modern mining ecosystem we have in Tucson."