Mar 18, 2015
The graduation ceremony of the first batch of trainees from Saudi Mining Polytechnic (SMP) was held last Wednesday 18th, March 2015 under the auspices of HRH Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz bin Musaed Al Saud, Governor of the Northern border region and the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources HE Engr. Ali bin Ibrahim Al Noaimi. The ceremony marked the graduation of 159 trainees who received their specialist diploma out of the total 507 students enrolled at SMP in Arar. The institute offers specialist diploma programs in three disciplines: Underground Mining, Surface Mining and Mine Processing Operations.
The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources HE Engr. Ali bin Ibrahim Al Noaimi, Governor of the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) Dr. Ali bin Nasser Al Ghufais Ma’aden Chairman Engr. Abdullah Al Saif, Ma’aden President and CEO Engr. Khalid Al Mudaifer, SVP HR & Sustainability Engr. Nabil Al Furaih, and SMP Managing Director Mr. Eid Alanazi.
Supported by strategic partners TVTC and Ma’aden, the SMP established a strategic partnership with Missouri University of Science and Technology, which is considered as one of the best international universities in the world offering mining specialist programs. Under the agreement, the University will provide the Polytechnic with mining training programs to meet the Saudi mining industry’s growing requirement for technically qualified miners and operators. These programs are open to high school graduates whose training will be sponsored by different companies that will hire them after graduation.
In his speech, Engr. Al Noaimi pointed out the Kingdom is pursuing the development of various industries including the mining sector to become a contributing force that will help strengthen and build the national economy. He added that this will not be possible without the educated and well-trained young professionals who will contribute in achieving this goal. Engr. Al Noaimi also emphasized that the expansion of the minerals industries will require more Saudi professionals across the Kingdom.
Dr. Al Ghufais expressed his thanks to the government for their continuing support of the training sector in the Kingdom, pointing out that the TVTC is exerting its best efforts to provide developing sectors with well-trained professionals utilizing the latest technology and methods to meet the requirements of the Saudi market.
Meanwhile, Engr. Al Saif said that Ma’aden is proud of its contribution to the SMP in cooperation with TVTC, highlighting that Ma’aden is investing heavily in the development of talented students at the Polytechnic. He added that Ma’aden is leading the growth of the mining sector in the Kingdom and is working to develop local talent to lead this sector.
Engr. Al Mudaifer shared that Ma’aden trains, qualifies and hires young Saudi’s especially from areas where Ma’aden operates in line with the company’s strategic plan to develop the competency of Saudi youth to meet the needs of this growing industry.
As well, he added that Ma’aden has established various training programs with a total of 2,700 trainees, and has so far graduated 1,500 trainees. Currently, there are about 1,200 trainees attending various training and development programs. These trainees include employees, high school graduates and diploma holders from across the Kingdom where Ma’aden operates. Engr. Al Mudaifer explained that some of these programs has a duration of more than two years such as the SMP which currently has 348 trainees.
The Chairman of the Board of SMP, Engr. Al Fraih said that SMP manages to prepare an effective basic human infrastructure for an important sector such as mining, as well as build a well-established institute with highly technical capabilities.
Mr. Alanazi highlighted that the SMP is supported by its partners Ma’aden and TVTC, by providing the latest technology which enables trainees to acquire skills that will help them in their careers in the mining sector.
Moreover, H.E. Engr. Al Noaimi, H.E. Dr. Al Ghufais, Engr. Al Saif and Engr. Al Mudaifer visited the SMP facilities where students explained how the mining operation simulators operate which are used to train the students. These simulators are considered among the best in the world which is provided by Ma’aden to assist SMP students in their training.