Gold glitters for North American mining students

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47055371/ns/business/#.T4wDxO1qP8s

When Travis Howard started his degree at the Colorado School of Mines four years ago he decided to pursue a double major in mechanical engineering and metallurgy to give himself the best chance of landing a high-paying job when he graduated.

Turns out he had nothing to worry about. The 21-year-old, who dropped his mechanical classes to focus on mining after his second year, has accepted a job with Kinross Gold Corp at a starting salary of $64,000 a year plus bonuses.

With graduation still a month away, "pretty much everyone is sitting on an offer or two," said Howard of his classmates, adding that some students were juggling four or five offers.

In fact, students at the Colorado School of Mines are some of the most employable in the country - 94 percent of 2011 graduates from the mining engineering, metallurgy and materials, geological engineering, and geophysics programs have jobs.