D7201 - Underground Softrock Mining

Operational Details
In a typical mine, the working areas of the mine faces may be up to 3 or 4 miles from the shaft. The miners travel to the mining level in a cage, down through the shaft. The shaft itself is a vertical tunnel dug from the ground surface to the mining level. The ore can be held underground but is transported to the surface for processing (also known as milling).

To determine the path the miner should follow, surveyors do seismic work. This is set up so that a laser can line up where the miner should cut. Miner cuts into the ore body, depositing smaller bits behind it. These deposits are raked up into a conveyor type belt, which is either loaded onto a truck or dropped directly on the main conveyor to be brought to surface.

Generally occupations in underground softrock mining include: mine operators, mine engineers, equipment operators, heavy duty mechanics, shaft technicians, mine maintenance workers, sandblasting personnel, carpenters, machinists, power engineers, industrial electricians, industrial mechanics, welders and millwrights.

The mill or processing plant employees include: metallurgists, instrumentation mechanics, laboratory technicians, mine engineers, mechanical engineers, processing personnel, mill operators, warehouse workers, etc.

Examples of type of equipment used include: all-terrain vehicles, trucks, automatic miners, power and hydraulic mining tools, rotor continuous boring machines, blowers, conveyors, etc.

SIC Codes
000000322 - Potash mining - conventional
000000378 - Geophysical/geological work
000000380 - Prospecting, mineral exploration
000000387 - Blasting
000000388 - Underground mine maintenance
000000389 - Grouting/cement work in mine
000000390 - Crosscutting, shaft sinking