Metals and Energy Finance
Deepen your understanding of the technical and financial assessment of natural energy and mineral resources.
Deepen your understanding of the technical and financial assessment of natural energy and mineral resources
Gain hands-on experience of industry practice on a field trip to the Wessex Basin
Receive training in financial modelling, financial engineering and risk modelling
Course key facts
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Qualification
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MSc
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Duration
1 year
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Start date
October 2023
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Study mode
Full-time
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Fees
£26,900 Home
£41,900 Overseas
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Delivered by
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Location
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South Kensington
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Minimum entry standard 2023
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2:1 in engineering, physical sciences or economics with a substantial mathematics component
Course overview
Enhance your understanding of the technical and financial assessment of natural energy and mineral resources on the Master's course.
Run jointly by the Department of Earth Science and Engineering and Imperial College Business School, this course will help you understand the financial risk and uncertainty pertinent to this sector.
You'll carry out traditional minerals-related training directly applicable to a career in this industry and become familiar with key technical and geological concepts relevant to petroleum projects.
Training in financial modelling, financial engineering and the techniques of risk modelling will be provided.
An extensive field trip in the summer term will also allow you to gain direct industry insights and develop your practical skills.
Structure
This page is updated regularly to reflect the latest version of the curriculum. However, this information is subject to change.
Find out more about potential course changes.
You’ll take all of these core modules.
Core modules
Develop your accounting related skills by exploring financial accounting and management accounting techniques and their relevance to financial decision-making and management control.
Explore the relationship between cash flows and financial accounts and how to generate a financial model for a natural resource project.
Analyse the theory of asset pricing and relevant mathematical tools and understand fundamental concepts such as state prices, arbitrage, payoff replication, and risk-neutral pricing.
Become familiar with the origin, extraction and use of energy and mineral deposits.
Learn how petroleum engineering data is applied in field development and production.
Apply the principles of geology to controls on hydrocarbon generation, migration, and accumulation, and identify the main petroleum rock types.
Gain a critical understanding of important investment and portfolio management techniques used for portfolio management by fund managers, risk managers, pension funds and other financial institutions.
Develop your project management skills and evaluate the strengths and limitations of management accounting data in improving organisational effectiveness.
Understand the main factors involved in securing financial support for mining projects and analyse the economic relationship between mineral processing and metal production, and its optimisation.
Explore the principles of minerals extraction, mine planning and design.
Learn how to carry out mass balances around minerals processing plants and understand mining sustainability concepts.
Become familiar with the equipment, principles and techniques used to separate minerals from their ores.
Develop your managerial potential by exploring techniques of financial and management accounting and examining their relevance to management evaluation and decision-making.
Learn about the growing markets for derivatives contracts, and obtain the necessary skills to value and use derivatives instruments in a purposeful way.
Depending on the levels of mathematics that you demonstrate in your application forms, you will be allocated to the Science and Economics Group or the Engineering and Mathematics Group.
Those in the Science and Economics group will take an additional Foundation Mathematics module.
Those who have sufficient mathematics to fully benefit from the parts of the programme that depend on good quantitative skills (which should include everyone with engineering degrees) will be allocated to the Engineering and Mathematics Group and follow an additional Spanish Language Option.
If you are already proficient or fluent in Spanish then you may be offered advanced Spanish, French or Italian instead.
You'll review the geological processes that result in the generation, migration, entrapment and preservation of hydrocarbons on a field trip to the Wessex Basin.
You’ll also take an excursion of at least 10 days to a region of active mining, downstream metal and mineral processing, and energy development.
These trips will allow you to gain first-hand experience of all aspects of the extraction industry and put concepts and skills into practice.
Professional accreditation
This course is professionally accredited by The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.
Achieving a professionally accredited degree demonstrates to employers that you have achieved an industry-recognised standard of competency. It also brings international recognition of your qualification, which is particularly useful for students preparing for a career abroad.
Our accreditation agreement with The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining is renewed every 5 years, and the current agreement runs between 2018 and 2022.
Teaching and assessment
Balance of teaching and learning
Key
- Lectures and tutorials
- Independent study
- 51% Lectures and tutorials
- 49% Independent study
Teaching and learning methods
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Virtual learning environment
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Dissertations
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Field trips
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Interactive lectures
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Literature-based assignments
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Guest presentations
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Syndicate exercises and group work
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Video-recorded presentations
Balance of assessment
Key
- Examinations
- Excursions
- Dissertation
- 43% Examinations
- 28% Excursions
- 28% Dissertation
Assessment methods
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Coursework
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Dissertations
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Syndicate exercises (group work)
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Appraisal sheets from field trips
Entry requirements
We consider all applicants on an individual basis, welcoming students from all over the world.
How to apply
Apply online
You can submit one application form per year of entry. You can choose up to two courses.
We strive to increase and broaden inclusivity and support everyone, regardless of background, in breaking down any barriers to your application the Department.
If you are interested in this MSc, we strongly encourage you to contact the course administrator Joanna Owen prior to starting your application: j.owens@imperial.ac.uk.
If you are applying for a taught Master’s course, you will need to pay an application fee before submitting your application.
The fee applies per application and not per course:
- £80 for all taught Master's applications excluding those to the Imperial College Business School
- £100 for all MSc applications to the Imperial College Business School
- £150 for MBA applications to the Imperial College Business School
There is no application fee for MRes courses, Postgraduate Certificates, Postgraduate Diplomas or research courses, such as PhDs and EngDs.
If you are facing financial hardship and are unable to pay the application fee, we encourage you to apply for our application fee waiver.
Find out more about how to apply for a Master's course, including references and personal statements.
An ATAS certificate is not required for students applying for this course.
Tuition fees
Home fee
2023 entry
£26,900
You should expect and budget for your fees to increase each year.
Your fee is based on the year you enter the College, not your year of study. This means that if you repeat a year or resume your studies after an interruption, your fees will only increase by the amount linked to inflation.
Find out more about our tuition fees payment terms, including how inflationary increases are applied to your tuition fees in subsequent years of study.
Whether you pay the Home or Overseas fee depends on your fee status. This is assessed based on UK Government legislation and includes things like where you live and your nationality or residency status. Find out how we assess your fee status.
If you're a UK national, or EU national with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you may be able to apply for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan from the UK government, if you meet certain criteria.
For 2022-23 entry, the maximum amount is £11,836. The loan is not means-tested and you can choose whether to put it towards your tuition fees or living costs.
Overseas fee
2023 entry
£41,900
You should expect and budget for your fees to increase each year.
Your fee is based on the year you enter the College, not your year of study. This means that if you repeat a year or resume your studies after an interruption, your fees will only increase by the amount linked to inflation.
Find out more about our tuition fees payment terms, including how inflationary increases are applied to your tuition fees in subsequent years of study.
Whether you pay the Home or Overseas fee depends on your fee status. This is assessed based on UK Government legislation and includes things like where you live and your nationality or residency status. Find out how we assess your fee status.
If you're a UK national, or EU national with settled or pre-settled status under the EU Settlement Scheme, you may be able to apply for a Postgraduate Master’s Loan from the UK government, if you meet certain criteria.
For 2022-23 entry, the maximum amount is £11,836. The loan is not means-tested and you can choose whether to put it towards your tuition fees or living costs.
Your future career
Learn the skills required to pursue careers in natural energy and mineral resource appraisal.
Build relationships with professionals working in metals, energy, and finance
There are potential internships available in the mining, oil, and gas sector, as well as investment banking.
Typical career paths include financial services or roles in the minerals and petroleum industries.
Further links
Contact the department
- Telephone: +44 (0)20 7594 6462
- Email: j.owens@imperial.ac.uk
Course Director: Professor Dennis Buchanan
Visit the Department of Earth Science and Engineering website.
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Terms and conditions
There are some important pieces of information you should be aware of when applying to Imperial. These include key information about your tuition fees, funding, visas, accommodation and more.
You can find further information about your course, including degree classifications, regulations, progression and awards in the programme specification for your course.
Programme specifications