Corps des Mines

The Corps des Mines (French pronunciation: [kɔʁ de min]) is a subgroup (French: corps) of the French civil service, one of so-called grands corps de l'État which have long enjoyed elite status among French public employees. For about two centuries it has been considered foremost among the corps techniques de l'État, namely those corps de fonctionnaires that recruit their members from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics training tracks. Members of the Corps des Mines receive an engineering degree upon entry into the Corps and are known as ingénieurs des Mines (lit. 'mining engineers'), or colloquially as corpsards des Mines. Their careers typically combine government roles with executive positions in large French companies. The Corps des Mines is under the authority to the Ministry of Economics and Finance. Its higher body is the Conseil Général de l'Économie, de l'Industrie, de l'Énergie et des Technologies, in shorthand Conseil Général de l'Économie and abbreviated as CGE, which in 2009 replaced the longstanding Conseil Général des Mines (CGM) established in 1810. The CGE is an oversight body of senior members of the Corps des Mines and is formally chaired by the competent minister; The Service du Conseil Général de l'Économie, de l'Industrie, de l'Énergie et des Technologies, known before 2009 as the Service du Conseil Général des Mines, is an administrative unit that supports the CGE's work as well as the training and career management of the ingénieurs des Mines.