Bachelor of Science in Critical Minerals and Responsible Extraction
Uganda holds gold, copper, cobalt, rare earths, lithium bearing pegmatites, iron and phosphates, and exports almost all of it in the least valuable and least responsible form possible. The constraint on changing that is expertise in the whole chain from resource to processed material, conducted ...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2032.
Roles
- Minerals geoscientist
- process and extractive engineer
- mineral processing specialist
- mine environmental specialist
- resource and exploration analyst
- responsible sourcing specialist
- metallurgical technologist
- technical founder
Employer types
- Mining and exploration firms
- mineral processing and value addition firms
- government minerals and geology agencies
- environmental and responsible sourcing bodies
- development finance institutions
- consulting firms
- battery and materials supply chains
- research institutes
- the graduate's own venture, incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This programme targets strong graduate compensation in a strategic sector and supports value addition ventures. Progression routes include the School's masters programmes and doctoral study.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Science in Critical Minerals and Responsible Extraction. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 101 | AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BCMR 110 | Foundations of Earth and Mineral Science Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BCMR 111 | Chemistry for Minerals Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| BCMR 112 | Programming and Computational Thinking Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BCMR 113 | Mathematics for Geoscience Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 102 | Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BCMR 130 | Introduction to Responsible Extraction Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BCMR 131 | Mineralogy and Petrology Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BCMR 132 | Structural Geology and Mapping Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| BCMR 133 | Analytical and Instrumental Methods Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| COP 190 | Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recessterm) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 201 | Ethics, Society and the African Context Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BCMR 210 | Geochemistry Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BCMR 211 | Mathematics and Statistics for Earth Systems Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BCMR 212 | Mineral Exploration and Resource Estimation Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BCMR 213 | Mineral Processing I Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 202 | Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 290 | Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BCMR 230 | Extractive Metallurgy I Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BCMR 231 | Environmental Geoscience and Impact Both | 2 | 1-0-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 301 | AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BCMR 310 | Mineral Processing II Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BCMR 311 | Extractive Metallurgy II and Value Addition Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BCMR 312 | Geospatial and Remote Sensing for Minerals Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BCMR 313 | Responsible Sourcing, Community and Governance Both | 2 | 1-0-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 302 | Enterprise, Employability and Financial Literacy Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 390 | Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BCMR 330 | Mine and Process Instrumentation Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BCMR 331 | Engineering Economics and Project Management Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 401 | AI Fluency III: Domain Deployment, Governance and Assurance Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| BCMR 410 | Tailings, Waste and Rehabilitation Performance | 6 | 3-2-4 |
| BCMR 411 | Intelligent Exploration and Process Control Performance | 5 | 2-2-4 |
| BCMR 412 | Advanced Minerals and Extraction Systems Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BCMR 413 | Specialisation Elective I Objective | 4 | 3-2-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 402 | Capability Portfolio and Day One Preparation Both | 3 | 1-2-0 |
| BCMR 430 | Critical Minerals Capstone: A Responsible Value Addition Case Performance | 9 | 0-2-16 |
| BCMR 431 | Minerals Law, Standards and Certification Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| BCMR 432 | Specialisation Elective II Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
| BCMR 433 | Professional Practice and Sector Leadership Objective | 3 | 2-2-0 |
Total credit units: 176
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Assessment follows Part E without variation. Across the programme the aggregate weighting is 35 per cent continuous assessment and built artefacts, 25 per cent authentic performance including practical examination and oral defence, 30 per cent external practitioner assessment in the final year, and not more than 40 per cent written examination in any single course. The capstone is client verified and the Day One Assessment contributes 5 per cent of the final year mark. Assessment principles. Assessment is authentic, criterion referenced and, for every capability claim above Level 2, verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer. There is no compensation between competencies: a student must master each one, and a marginal performance in one cannot be offset by strength in another. Feedback is returned quickly, within seven days of a block closing in the Block Sequence, so that it can inform the next unit. A student who does not yet meet the standard is given a further, structured attempt under Part E rather than being carried forward, which protects the value of the award while supporting progression. Reasonable adjustments for disability are made under Part D without altering the competency standard.
Work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4.
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Bachelor of Science in Critical Minerals and Responsible Extraction
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 22
Year 1 · this step is worth 22 CU
Cumulative
22
Programme total
176
22 CU of 176 CU completed by the end of this step (13%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C2Quantitative and Evidential ReasoningLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C4Communication and PersuasionLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C5Disciplinary MasteryLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C6Technical Production and CraftLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C7Problem Framing and Systems ThinkingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial LiteracyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive CapacityLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Characterise a mineral resource using geological and analytical evidence.
- PLO 2Design and evaluate extraction and processing routes for a critical mineral.
- PLO 3Engineer value addition from a raw mineral to a processed product.
- PLO 4Assess and manage the environmental impact of extraction and processing.
- PLO 5Instrument, sample and analyse minerals and processing streams.
- PLO 6Apply responsible sourcing, community and governance requirements as engineering constraints.
- PLO 7Model and simulate extraction and processing before committing to them.
- PLO 8Apply intelligent systems C0, C5 to exploration, grading and process control.
- PLO 9Cost, model and defend C8 a minerals value addition investment to a decision maker.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate C10 a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
Uganda holds gold, copper, cobalt, rare earths, lithium bearing pegmatites, iron and phosphates, and exports almost all of it in the least valuable and least responsible form possible. The constraint on changing that is expertise in the whole chain from resource to processed material, conducted responsibly, and the region trains almost none of it. This programme builds the geoscientist and process engineer who can find, characterise, extract and add value to critical minerals responsibly, with the environment, the community and the regulation treated as engineering constraints rather than afterthoughts. Fieldwork and laboratory are central from Year 1.
Admission requirements
Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education with two principal passes including a science, preferably including Chemistry or Geography or Physics; plus Uganda Certificate of Education with five passes including Mathematics, a science and English. Applicants sit a structured quantitative and problem framing task scored against Capabilities C2 and C7. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
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