Underground Production and Development Miners

Nature of work

Underground production and development miners drill, blast, use mining machinery, and carry out related duties to extract coal and ore in underground mines and to construct tunnels, passageways and shafts for mining operations. They work for coal, metal and non-metallic mineral underground mines and by specialized contractors in mine construction, shaft sinking and tunnelling.

Job duties

Underground production and development miners:

• Set up and use drills and drilling machines to make a designated pattern of blasting holes.
• Use diamond drills or other specialized drills like raise boring machinery to test geological formations or to make underground passageways.
• Set up and use mining machinery to shear coal, rock or ore from the working face.
• Load explosives, set fuses, and detonate explosives to make desired blasting patterns and rock fragmentation in underground mines.
• Use scooptram, load-haul-dump (LHD) machine or mucking machine to load and haul ore from stopes, drifts and drawpoints to ore passes.
• Complete safety tasks to support the mining advance like 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.
• Maintain mining machinery.

Sample 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
• roadhead operator
• scooptram operator
• shaft inspector

Skills

You should have good health, physical stamina, and strength. Agility, coordination, and a mechanical aptitude would also be helpful. You must be able to take direction and carry out instructions given by supervisors.

Job requirements

• High school is usually required.
• Formal training of up to six weeks followed by extended periods of specialized training as a helper or in support occupations is usually provided.
• Experience as a mine labourer or in other mine jobs is usually required.
• Provincial blasting licence may be required.
• May be certified in the basic common core program or as an underground hard rock miner in Ontario.
• Company licensing or certification is often required for jobs in this group.
• Certificate in first aid may be required.

Other considerations

Movement to other jobs in underground mining like underground service and support roles is possible. There is movement between employers within each of the three following sectors: underground coal mining, underground hard rock mining and underground potash, salt or soft rock mining. Movement between these sectors is somewhat limited by differences in production technologies. Movement to mining supervisor is possible with experience.

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