The Corps des mines is the foremost of the technical Grand Corps of the French State (grands corps de l'Etat). It is formed of the State Engineers of the Mines. The Corps is attached to the French ministry in charge of economy, industry and employment.
People entering the Corps are educated at the École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris, also known as Mines ParisTech, with a special curriculum distinct from that of ordinary students. Most of them are from École polytechnique; these are known as X-Mines; others come from École normale supérieure (ENS), Télécom ParisTech (former ENST) or the regular curriculum of the École nationale supérieure des mines de Paris.
Many executive positions in France's industries are held by Corps des Mines engineers.
Famous quotes containing the words corps, des and/or mines:
“Ce corps qui s’appelait et qui s’appelle encore le saint empire romain n’était en aucune manière ni saint, ni romain, ni empire. This agglomeration which called itself and still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.”
—Voltaire [François Marie Arouet] (1694–1778)
“When I was growing up I used to think that the best thing about coming from Des Moines was that it meant you didn’t come from anywhere else in Iowa. By Iowa standards, Des Moines is a mecca of cosmopolitanism, a dynamic hub of wealth and education, where people wear three-piece suits and dark socks, often simultaneously.”
—Bill Bryson (b. 1951)
“Beautiful credit! The foundation of modern society. Who shall say that this is not the golden age of mutual trust, of unlimited reliance upon human promises? That is a peculiar condition of society which enables a whole nation to instantly recognize point and meaning in the familiar newspaper anecdote, which puts into the mouth of a distinguished speculator in lands and mines this remark:M”I wasn’t worth a cent two years ago, and now I owe two millions of dollars.””
—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)