Awards & Scholarships

Courtney A. Young is department head and the Asarco distinguished professor of metallurgical and materials engineering at Montana Tech. He obtained his B.S. in mineral processing engineering from the then Montana College of Mineral Science and Technology in 1984; his M.S. in mining and minerals engineering from Virginia Tech in 1987, and his Ph.D. in metallurgical engineering from the University of Utah in 1995.  He enjoys applying his knowledge in surface chemistry, electrochemistry, and spectroscopy to help advance all areas of process technology, particularly in resource recovery.  Examples of primary production include copper, gold, flotation, physical separations, sulfide electrochemistry and adsorption whereas, in secondary production, it involves traditional recycling, cyanide destruction, acid-rock drainage treatment, spent-pot liner remediation, and other waste treatment and minimization areas.  Young has been a consultant for several companies involved in selecting and testing ore processing options and researching and developing solutions to environmental problems. He has also been a principal investigator on research projects ranging from institutional to international grants. His consulting and research efforts have culminated in more than 100 publications and presentations. Young received the division’s 1997 Young Engineer Award as well as SME's 2009 Presidential Citation and AIME's 2009 Frank Aplan Award.  He is currently the division representative to the SME Membership Committee.