The study of mining can be roughly divided into three subject areas:

• Mining concerns itself with the exploration, site development, and extraction of solid, liquid, and gaseous raw materials. This comprises crude oil and natural gas as well as all sorts of coal, ores, salts, and different rocks and rare-earth elements.
• Foundation soil specialists are trained in the area of geotechnical engineering. They assess the mechanical behaviour of these raw materials in advance, accounting for their interaction with building constructions and the assessed soil, as well as the available installation space.
• Mine surveying concerns itself with the registration, analysis, modelling, and rendering of reservoirs, mines, and open pits. Graduates of this subject area are proficient in terrestrial, airborne, and satellite supported geodetic measuring methods.

In addition to the general natural scientific basics (mathematics, physics, chemistry, electrical engineering, materials engineering, mechanics, thermodynamics, etc.), a course of study in mining will also provide special knowledge, e.g., of geosciences as well as legal and economic basics.

Educating engineers who advocate for a sustainable and environmentally sound use of the earth’s crust is becoming increasingly important. In the future, the sustainable, safe, and efficient extraction of raw materials from the seabed or space will become an important field of activity.