UCL - University College London

The best University nobody seems to have heard of.

BSc in Geology (Hons) - 2.i

Geology was a great degree to earn because it is essentially applied chemistry, physics, biology and maths. Looking at mining then includes economics as well. It also involved quite a lot of travel to locations to conduct field studies and our degree required the completion of a 6 week mapping project that has to be conducted independently.

While at UCL I was also involved organising the earth science's Greenough society events. I think they might just have recovered by now....

I have frequently returned to UCL to give lectures to undergraduates on economic geology.

UCL has a bit of a naming issue and the university is itself considering ways to make it more recognisable as one of the highest ranking universities in the world. Just in case you haven't heard of UCL, or seen it on the news, here is the university rankings for the UK in 2022/3 from the Guardian - link. It was #9 at this point on overall score.

Birkbeck - University of London

Advanced Certificate in Economics with applied economics and finance

Essentially a conversion course to economics.

This is one of the hardest courses I have ever taken. The year that I took the required courses, in 2007, it was offered as a ~3 night per week course and it was essentially a course in applied mathematics for the most part - which was fantastic. The course is a conversion course from other academic backgrounds to essentially have a degree in economics.

Unfortunately, the name of the qualification doesn't quite capture how rigorous the cource was and how hard it was to sit in one year. I am proud to have got through on the first try.

The course has changed since I took it but an equivalent course is can now be found here.

This course was paid for by my then employer, Bloomsbury Minerals Economics, for which I am very grateful.

Kent Business School - University of Kent

MSc International Business Management

I decided to complete a Masters when my role at Bloomsbury Minerals Economics was drawing to a close owing to a slow down in the copper market. It was also clear that global industrial production was slowing too and this was just the beginning of the Global Financial Crisis.

I choose Kent because of its leafy campus and the international aspect of the qualification. This entailed lots of study on different cultural aspects of managing teams and working with our diverse and international cohort.

This course is where I became particularly interested in process mapping. We had a great lecturer who demonstrated the important of understanding the flow of operations. This course has stuck with me and has been a significant part of my work since.

CFA Society UK

Investment Management Certificate

I studied for the IMC in late 2017 while I was making the transition from my purely metals and mining based career. This course was to backfill any holes in my knowledge of financial markets and investment managment.

The IMC certificate is a level 4 qualification that includes two modules: Investment Environment and Investment Practice.

More information about the qualification can be found here.

CIMA

Certificate in Business Accounting

I studied for this certificate in 2018 while I was making the transition from my purely metals and mining based career. There are four sections to this qualification: Business Economics, Management Accounting, Financial Account and Ethics.

It was a great course for broadening my understanding of accounting practicies and built on a strong foundation I had set during my work as an equities analyst and from my finance courses that I sat while studying for my MSc.

More information about the qualification can be found here.

BCS

Foundation Certificate in Business Analysis

I studied for this certificate in early 2017 while I was making the transition from my purely metals and mining based career. This was a great course and I learned a lot of data and process mapping tools that I use frequently.

The course helped me to enter the data world and have a better understanding of key terminology of the industry. Most importantly, it helped me to build on my strategy foundation that I gained in my studies for my MSc.

More information about the qualification can be found here.