Geology Graduates' Salaries Top MBAs
03/24/2008
The financial site Bloomberg.com reported (Rob Delaney and Stewart Bailey, March 13) on the demand for geologists in the mining industry. This is in addition to increasing demands for geologists in petroleum exploration and environmental consulting (e.g., employment). Thanks to New Paltz Geology graduate Scott Kappeller for bringing this article to our attention. Following are a few excerpts (full story at: full story):
"Brittan Jones passed up a $100,000- a-year job at a mining company last December when he finished his degree in geology. The 24-year-old Canadian said he's confident he'll get a better offer."
"Mining companies ... are paying geology grads 44 percent more than three years ago, giving them higher salaries than the average Master of Business Administration in the U.S. Demand from developing nations including China helped gold, copper and silver prices more than double in that time."
"Salaries for geology undergraduates in Canada, home to three of the world's largest gold producers, jumped to an average C$90,000 ($91,776) from C$62,500 in 2004"
"Geologists' pay tops the average for new U.S. MBAs, which, according to an August 2007 survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, was $86,696. Those with mining skills are also catching up with Harvard University MBAs, whose average starting salary rose 15 percent over three years to $115,000 in 2007, according to the university."
"This year there will be about 1,200 geology grads in Canada to fill 9,000 positions... In the U.S., the number of jobs open to geologists will rise 22 percent in the decade ending in 2016, about double the average for all occupations, according to the U.S. Department of Labor."
Gregory Wilkins, president and chief executive officer of Barrick Gold Corp., poses for a photo in Toronto on March 6, 2008. Photographer: Norm Betts/Bloomberg News
A pipe leads to a processing facility at Barrick Gold Corp.'s silver and gold Veladero mine in the San Juan province of Argentina on Oct. 16, 2007. Photographer: Diego Levy/Bloomberg News
