How to become a Miner

Duties & Tasks of a Miner

Miners:

• Cut drives into the ore body using specialist equipment
• Extract coal or ore by drilling, blasting or excavating
• Load ore into mine cars, trucks or conveyors for transport to the stockpile or mine surface
• Undertake development work such as opening up new shafts, drives, air vents, rises and crib rooms
• Support the walls and roofs in underground mines with rock bolts and erect wooden or steel props, pillars and arches
• Install lighting, pumps, cabling and other equipment to service the mine
• Monitor the operation of plants and ensure the safety of other workers on mining sites and during drilling operations
• Operate auxiliary plants (such as pumps) to expel air, water and mud.

Tasks

• Operates surface and underground mining plant.
• Undertakes development work such as opening up new shafts, drives, air vents, rises and crib rooms: loads coal, ore or stone onto carts or conveyor systems that remove it for processing.

Working conditions for a Miner

Mines are often located in remote areas. Miners and plant operators may have to work in dusty, hot and noisy conditions. Many workers are employed at mine sites on a fly-in, fly-out basis, usually flying from a base location to the mine site, where they work for a number of weeks and then return to the base location. Although they work as part of a team, miners generally work without direct supervision. Mining operations around Australia have a zero tolerance policy for drugs and alcohol.

Employment Opportunities for a Miner

Miners are employed by mining companies, often in remote regions. Australian mines are generally highly automated and employment is normally in machine-operating positions. Employment opportunities fluctuate depending on the level of activity in the resources sector.

Specializations

Open Cut Miner

An open cut miner uses mobile plant machinery (such as bucketwheel excavators, draglines, mining shovels, bulldozers, graders and front-end loaders) to extract ore from the mine.

Underground Miner

An underground miner travels down vertical shafts or sloping declines to reach the workface. Duties may include rockbolting the walls and roofs of mines, building timber or steel props, pillars or arches to support the rock and back-filling mineral voids.

Mine Shift Supervisor

A mine shift supervisor regularly inspects mine sites (both above and below ground) and roadways to check that conditions are safe, and ensures compliance with safety regulations and emergency procedures. They also supervise shotfiring and conduct tests to detect gas or insufficient ventilation. Other career progression opportunities for miners include registered mine manager, undermanager, mine deputy and open-cut examiner.

Miner

Miners operate equipment to excavate, load and transport coal, ore, mineral sand and rock, either underground or in open-cut mines.

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  Average age

  42

• 

  Future Growth

  N/A

• 

  Gender Share

  12% female

• 

  Average full-time

  63 hours

• 

  Weekly Pay

  N/A

• 

  Skill level rating

  Medium skill

• 

  Unemployment

  Lower unemployment

• 

  Full-Time Share

  94%

• 

  Employment Size

  40,600

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  Employment by state

  ACT: 0.0%
  NSW: 26.7%
  NT: 1.1%
  QLD: 33.9%
  SA: 4.2%
  TAS: 1.6%
  VIC: 3.4%
  WA: 29.1%
  
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  Age brackets

  15-19: 0.3%
  20-24: 3.5%
  25-34: 26.1%
  35-44: 28.9%
  45-54: 26.2%
  55-59: 9.2%
  60-64: 4.2%
  65 and Over: 1.5%
  
• 

  Education level

  Advanced Diploma/Diploma: 4.4%
  Bachelor degree: 2.3%
  Certificate III/IV: 36.8%
  Post Graduate/Graduate Diploma or Graduate Certificate: 0.5%
  Year 10 and below: 29.5%
  Year 11: 7.8%
  Year 12: 18.7%