Colorado School of Mines is a public research university specialising in science and engineering, located in the city of Golden, Colorado.

Established in 1859, it mainly acted as a supply centre for local miners and settlers (the then ‘Golden City’ was a gold-rush town, populated by prospectors). By 1866, a local bishop, George M Randall, had recognised the need to bring higher education to the region and set to work constructing a university that would include a school of mines.

When Mines opened in 1874, the focus of its early academic programmes was on gold and silver, and their extraction. Students could take courses in chemistry, metallurgy, mineralogy, mining engineering, geology, botany, drawing and maths.

Today, Mines priortises ‘understanding the Earth, harnessing energy and sustaining the environment’ with a science and engineering curriculum that emphasises ‘responsible stewardship of the earth and its resources.’