Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers
Conduct subsurface surveys to identify the characteristics of potential land or mining development sites. May specify the ground support systems, processes, and equipment for safe, economical, and environmentally sound extraction or underground construction activities. May inspect areas for unsafe geological conditions, equipment, and working conditions. May design, implement, and coordinate mine safety programs.
Most important skills
- Complex Problem Solving
- Reading Comprehension
- Writing
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Judgment and Decision Making
- Active Listening
- Mathematics
Key knowledge
- Engineering and Technology
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Production and Processing
- Design
- Administration and Management
- Administrative
- Physics
What the work involves
- Inspect mining areas for unsafe structures, equipment, and working conditions.
- Select locations and plan underground or surface mining operations, specifying processes, labor usage, and equipment that will result in safe, economical, and environmentally sound extraction of minerals and ores.
- Examine maps, deposits, drilling locations, or mines to determine the location, size, accessibility, contents, value, and potential profitability of mineral, oil, and gas deposits.
- Prepare schedules, reports, and estimates of the costs involved in developing and operating mines.
- Monitor mine production rates to assess operational effectiveness.
- Design, implement, and monitor the development of mines, facilities, systems, or equipment.
- Select or develop mineral location, extraction, and production methods, based on factors such as safety, cost, and deposit characteristics.
- Prepare technical reports for use by mining, engineering, and management personnel.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Investigative, Conventional.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Bachelor's Degree (79.1% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (25.6%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (36.9%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 4: Job Zone Four: Considerable Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Low | Lower on contact with others than 78% of occupations compared | 36% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Low | Lower on dealing with the public than 79% of occupations compared | 29% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly important” |
| Teamwork | Moderate | Lower on teamwork than 55% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Moderate | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 54% of occupations compared | 44% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Low | Lower on time pressure than 72% of occupations compared | 39% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Lower on conflict situations than 59% of occupations compared | 57% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Low | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 66% of occupations compared | 55% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Moderate | Lower on consequence of error than 53% of occupations compared | 40% of surveyed respondents chose “Serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: low
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: low
- Consequence of error: moderate
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 6.87%
- Contact with others about half the time: 27.47%
- Contact with others most of the time: 29.7%
- Constant contact with others: 35.96%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 25.52%
- Fairly important: 29.1%
- Important: 13.62%
- Very important: 20.56%
- Extremely important: 11.2%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2018
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 6.87%
- Important: 9.11%
- Very important: 39.56%
- Extremely important: 44.46%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2018
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 13.34%
- Limited freedom: 0%
- Some freedom: 42.67%
- A lot of freedom: 43.99%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2018
Time pressure
- Never: 6.65%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 0%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 39.27%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 38.1%
- Every day: 15.97%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2018
Conflict situations
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 56.86%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 23.14%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 13.34%
- Every day: 6.65%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2018
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 6.87%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 54.92%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 18.22%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 20%
- Every day: 0%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2018
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 13.74%
- Fairly serious: 18.07%
- Serious: 39.94%
- Very serious: 19.1%
- Extremely serious: 9.15%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2018
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O*NET-SOC 17-2151.00 · SOC 17-2151 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8