A professional who conducts research to determine location and methods of extracting minerals, such as metallic ores and nonmetallic substances, such as coal, stone, and gravel. Responsibilities include:

• Conducts or collaborates in geological exploration, and reviews maps and drilling logs to determine location, size, accessibility, and estimated value of mineral deposit.
• Determines methods to extract minerals, considering factors such as safety, operational costs, deposit characteristics, overburden depth, and surrounding strata.
• Plans, recommends, and coordinates mining process, type and capacity of haulage equipment, such as power shovels and trucks, and labor utilization.
• Lays out and directs mine construction operations, such as location and development of shafts, tunnels, chambers, position of excavation benches (levels), and access roads.
• Designs, implements, and monitors facility projects, such as water and power supply, ventilation system, rock-dust and radon gas control, drainage, rail and conveyor systems, and material cleaning, grading, and reduction systems.
• May devise methods and locations to store and replace excavated soil to reclaim mine sites.
• May analyze labor requirements, equipment needs, and operational costs to compute and prepare annual budget reports.
• May apply knowledge of mining engineering to solve problems concerned with environment.