Staff & Skill Level Increasing

While many unskilled workers with little formal education still work in North America’s mines, the increasing complexity of mines today requires that those who wish to advance to the highly skilled and better-paying jobs should have a minimum of secondary school education. Technical training from a technical high school or community college is an advantage and, of course, higher education such as an engineering or other university degree, gives a young miner many more possibilities for the future.

Mining companies provide the inexperienced worker with a period of initial training common to all employees. This common core training (or stope school, as it is sometimes called) includes an introduction to the basics of mining and mining safety procedures, classroom study on surface and underground, followed by on-the-job training as helper to an experienced miner. Specialized training is then necessary to become qualified to operate individual machines.

Office Staff: Besides the miners and various supervisory personnel, there are the technical and professional staff whose duties encompass such things as sampling, surveying, drafting and planning. Directing their activities are the mining engineers and geologists who map the progress of the mining operations, design the mining methods, and direct the search for new ore.

Upper management usually includes a mine manager and a mine superintendent. Naturally, there are also accounting and secretarial personnel at each mine.