Ever since the Plunkett Point Mine opened in 1834, mining has been an integral part of Tasmanian history, its people, and its economy. Today, mining accounts for 50% of the state's exports. In 2017 that amounted to $1.82 billion in value.

As the minerals industry evolved in Tasmania, so did its knowledge, culminating in the formation of the Centre for Ore Deposit and Earth Sciences (CODES) at the University of Tasmania in 1989. Today, CODES is a world leader in VHMS and porphyry systems and has produced some of the best geologists in the country. Sadly, the university bureaucrats are doing their best to destroy this heritage.

In recent years, the Geological Mapping, Igneous Petrology & Geochemistry, and Geophysics units were deleted from the final year course syllabus. And now, the university is forcing the Earth Sciences department to cut more units. At some point, you have to ask if the university can legitimately call it a “Geology” major.

Just last week, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Rufus Black, talked about the value of CODES and its importance in finding copper for the renewable economy. And yet, barely an hour earlier, the university was engineering its demise by forcing it to merge more units.

This must stop. Please join us show your support for the UTAS School of Earth Sciences and CODES by sharing this post and talking with your friends and colleagues.