Mining Engineering and Management is a new degree at SDSMT, initiated in Fall 2004, designed to better meet the needs of the mining industry. It combines the traditional mining engineering education with selected management-related concepts in order to better prepare the graduates for the modern mining industry.

Today's mining industry needs graduates whoare technically sound in engineering, but who can progress quickly through supervision and into management. A mining engineer's chief responsibility is to take the most ore out of the ground for the least cost. This is accomplished by mining engineers providing technical assistance in many areas, such as rock mechanics, ore reserve evaluation, mine design, equipment selection, and mineland reclamation. Key management-related concepts that the mining engineer deals with on a regular basis include health and safety, economics and finance, labor relations, project management, environmental management, and labor and environmental law. All of these concepts, and more, are included in the new Mining Engineering and Management degree curriculum.

In addition to the Mining Engineering and Management core curriculum, students in the program can take elective courses in engineering and construction materials, advanced rock mechanics, computer application in geoscience modeling, rock slope engineering, coal mining, engineering project management, and advanced management techniques.