Students secure female mining scholarships at Camborne School of Mines

Jenna Roberts and Patti Suwawmongkol have each secured a scholarship worth £6,000 to assist their studies on the MSc Mining Engineering course, offered at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall - the only one of its kind anywhere in the UK.

The scholarships are the result of generous donations from Women in Mining (UK), and the Camborne School of Mines Trust together with The Patron’s Fund and are designed to encourage more women into the field of mining engineering.

They build on the success of a Women in Mining (UK) scholarship offered last year, funds for which were raised by the raffle of a ruby ring, donated by Gemfields plc.

They were presented with their scholarships by Tony Batchelor, Chair of the Camborne School of Mines Trust, at a recent special ceremony.

Speaking after the event, Jenna said: “I am really grateful to Women in Mining (UK) for helping me to study mining engineering and excited to be starting the course.” 

Patti added: “I was thinking of studying geotechnics but winning the scholarship has encouraged me to take the full step to mining engineering.”

Tony Batchelor said: “The Trust is delighted to be helping encourage more women to follow careers in mining and we are pleased to receive a £2500 grant from The Patron’s Fund, the charitable fund set up to acknowledge the work of the charitable organisations for which Her Majesty, The Queen acts as a Patron, on the occasion of her 90^th birthday, to help us support this initiative.” 

Professor Frances Wall of Camborne School of Mines, based at the University of Exeter's Penryn Campus, and a member of the Membership Development Committee of Women in Mining (UK) said: “We had a very high standard of applicant this year, resulting in two excellent winners. Mining is a ‘hi tech’ international industry, which is keen to build a reputation for sustainability best practice and contains exciting career possibilities. 

"Women in Mining (UK) aims to encourage more women into mining and help them climb the career ladder."