San Xavier Mining Lab Offers Unique Opportunities for UA Students

The University of Arizona is one of only four universities in the nation with a mining laboratory where students can get hands-on experience. At the San Xavier Mining Laboratory, is a student-run, four-level mine that goes as deep as 250 feet.

“We are a truly interdisciplinary, even transdisciplinary school that brings together departments and disciplines from all across campus to deliver the curriculum and innovation for tomorrow’s mining, and to do that today,” said Misael Cabrera, director of the School of Mining and Mineral Resources, in an interview with the Daily Wildcat.

The mine produced silver, copper, zinc and lead in the first half of the 20th century, before it was leased and then eventually purchased by UA in 1975.

“The need for abundant minerals is absolutely urgent,” Cabrera said. “At the heart of it is that if we’re going to replace fossil fuels with electric energy, we are going to need a lot more minerals than we’ve ever needed in the past.”

UA student tours are offered at San Xavier Mine at least once a month.