Miner

Job overview
Miners and their teams of workers extract minerals from an area allocated to them in a mine.

What do people do in this job?
Miners work underground where they supervise the boring of holes in the mineral veins, the blasting operations and the safety measures.

They also investigate the misfiring of explosives, oversee the cleaning of the face and control the conveyance of ore to the surface by means of underground trains and hoisting apparatus.

The use of explosives is under the miners' direct control.

Miners are responsible for the safety of all persons working in their area of responsibility and also for the efficient use of equipment, material and other resources.

Although miners are trained in using mine machinery and performing difficult mining tasks themselves, they work as supervisors after obtaining the necessary qualifications.

What kinds of people are suitable for this job?
Potential miners must be physically fit and require management and leadership skills to manage their workers and maintain good working relationships.

What qualifications are needed?
There are no specific starting qualifications, but miners need to undergo in-service training if they are to progress to more senior positions.