Description

Underground production and development miners drill, blast, operate mining machinery, and perform related duties to extract coal and ore in underground mines and to construct tunnels, passageways and shafts to facilitate mining operations. They are employed by coal, metal and non-metallic mineral underground mines and by specialized contractors in mine construction, shaft sinking and tunnelling. Apprentices are also included in this unit group.

Job Titles

• Blaster – underground mining
• Chute blaster – underground mining
• Diamond driller – underground mining
• Drift miner
• Driller – underground mining
• Hardrock miner apprentice
• Hoist operator – underground mining
• Miner
• Mining machine operator
• Powderman/woman – underground mining
• Raise miner
• Roadheader operator
• Scooptram operator
• Shaft inspector

Main Duties

• Set up and operate drills and drilling machines to produce a designated pattern of blasting holes
• Operate diamond drills or other specialized drills such as raise boring machinery to test geological formations or to produce underground passageways
• Set up and operate mining machinery to shear coal, rock or ore from the working face
• Load explosives, set fuses, and detonate explosives to produce desired blasting patterns and rock fragmentation in underground mines
• Operate scooptram, load-haul-dump (LHD) machine or mucking machine to load and haul ore from stopes, drifts and drawpoints to ore passes
• Perform duties required to ensure safety and to support the mining advance, such as scaling loose rock from walls and roof, drilling and installing rock bolts, extending and installing air and water pipes, operating ore loading machinery, inspecting mine shafts, operating hoists that transport people, equipment and materials through mine shafts, and constructing timber supports and cribbing if required
• Perform routine maintenance of mining machinery.

Workplaces

• Coal, metal and non-metallic mineral underground mines
• Specialized contractors in mine construction, shaft sinking and tunnelling

Skills

• Equipment and Tool Selection
• Operation and Control
• Operation Monitoring of Machinery and Equipment
• Preventative Maintenance
• Quality Control Testing

Abilities

• Control of Settings
• Depth Perception
• Gross Body Equilibrium
• Multi-Signal Response
• Reaction Time

Personal Attributes

• Adaptability
• Attention to Detail
• Collaboration
• Concern for Others
• Independence

Similar Occupations

• Drillers and blasters – surface mining, quarrying and construction (73402)
• Supervisors, mining and quarrying (82020)
• Underground mine service and support workers (84100)
• Mine labourers (85110)

Source: OaSIS