Samantha Hicks has secured a £6,000 scholarship from Women in Mining (WIM) UK

Student secures first female mining scholarship at Camborne School of Mines

A student at the world-famous Camborne School of Mines has been awarded a valuable scholarship, as she embarks on her first steps towards forging a successful mining career.

Samantha Hicks has secured a £6,000 scholarship from Women in Mining (WIM) UK to assist her studies on the MSc Mining Engineering course, offered at the University of Exeter’s Penryn Campus in Cornwall.

The scholarship was established as part of a wider initiative to encourage more women into the field of mining engineering. The MSc course offered at the University of Exeter is the only one if its kind anywhere in the UK.

Funds for the scholarship were raised after a Faberge amethyst ring, donated by Gemfields plc, was raffled late last year, with the proceeds passed to the Camborne School of Mines Trust - a charity set-up to help promote and enhance mining education.

Samantha was presented with her cheque for the sizeable sum by Nick Wilshaw, Vice-Chair of the CSM Trust, at a recent special ceremony.

Following the ceremony, Samantha said: “I really appreciate this scholarship award and I am grateful to Women in Mining (UK) and to the CSM Trust for their support and help as I begin my mining engineering studies.”

Nick Wilshaw added: “The Trust is delighted to be associated with this initiative to encourage more women to follow careers in mining, and we wish Samantha the very best of success for her studies and future career.”

The scholarship is the latest success in CSM’s drive to encourage more women into mining, demonstrated by this year’s cohort being the first in the School’s illustrious history to have more women than men on their mining engineering course, with six women and five men enrolled.

Frances Wall, Professor of Applied Mineralogy at CSM and member of the development committee of WIM (UK) said, “This is a generous donation from WIM(UK). I am glad that we found an excellent candidate for the scholarship and we will be working now to encourage more women to study mining courses and to come to CSM.”

Date: 4 October 2016