Underground Mining Jobs in Australia: Roles, Qualifications and Where the Mines Are

Underground roles

The ABS defines the occupation Miner as someone who operates plant to excavate, load and transport coal, ore and rock in an underground or open-cut mine. Its listed specialisations include bogger operator, coal cutter, dragline operator, opal miner and underground truck operator. The ABS unit group tasks include running surface and underground mining equipment, developing shafts, drives, air vents, rises and crib rooms, and placing, priming and detonating explosives.

The qualification names give a second view. RII30320 describes its work as covering shot firers, drillers and production operators, and it has these streams:

• Charge Up
• Development
• Production
• Services and Infrastructure
• General

Two roles we saw described in detail in a live ad were the bogger operator and the charge-up operator. In that ad, the bogger does production bogging from stopes, remote bogging and truck loading. The charge-up operator charges stopes and development headings, fires development rounds and keeps explosives records. Job titles vary by company, so match the duties in the ad, not just the title.

Entry level versus experienced

On 10 October 2026 we read two kinds of ads:

We suggest treating nipper and ground support assistant roles as the usual way in, and bogger, jumbo and charge-up roles as the step after you have underground time. That reading comes from these ads, and it is not a rule. Charge-up work needs explosives qualifications and licences, which the ad says must be current. Our guide to getting into mining is a broader starting point.

Qualifications

RII30320 Certificate III in Underground Metalliferous Mining is current on training.gov.au (Release 3, 17 March 2026). Its entry requirements are listed as nil. The page says licensing varies between states and territories and must be sourced from the jurisdictions, so check the state regulator for the state you want to work in.

The ABS lists an indicative qualification for the Miner unit group of an AQF Certificate II or III, or at least one year of relevant experience, and says registration or licensing may be required. That is an indicative guide, not an employer requirement. The ad decides.

Underground coal is different

Coal has its own qualification: RII30220 Certificate III in Underground Coal Operations (Release 4, 17 March 2026). It reflects skilled workers, including production operators, working in underground coal mines, and has Services and Continuous Mining Operations variants. The coal ad we read, for a Moranbah North role, needed demonstrated underground coal experience.

Coal mining has its own state steps. See our guides to the coal board medical and the Standard 11 induction, and read the regulator’s page for your state before booking anything. We did not research the NSW coal induction for this guide.

Where the mines are

This list names only operations we could confirm on an operator or filing page. It leaves out mines we could not verify, so it is not the full picture.

State guides: see WA, SA, Queensland, NSW and Victoria. For the source pages, see Newmont Cadia, Northern Star Kalgoorlie and Glencore Mount Isa Mines.

Pay

SEEK has no underground miner page. Its Miner page covers underground and open-cut operators and shows an average range of $108,550 to $126,640, a median of $117,240, and a 10th to 90th percentile spread of $90,460 to $144,730 (checked 10 October 2026). That is pay disclosed in ads, not a promise for any site. We read the Mining Industry Award as covering miner work in its Underground group at roughly Levels 1 to 5, but that level mapping is our reading, not the award’s. Our underground miner salary page shows both measures. SEEK says it is common for miners to work in rural and remote locations, often FIFO.

Getting started

We suggest this order, which is our advice rather than a rule:

1. Pick your state and read its guide above, since licensing for underground work varies between states and territories.
2. Decide metalliferous or coal first, because they use different qualifications and different inductions.
3. Read three or four current ads and note what experience each asks for. Apply to nipper and assistant roles if you have no underground time.
4. Read our mine rescue guide to see how emergency response works underground.

Qualification details: RII30320 and RII30220 on training.gov.au.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Last updated 10 October 2026. Facts on this page come from the sources below.

• training.gov.au: RII30320 Certificate III in Underground Metalliferous Mining (read 10 October 2026)
• training.gov.au: RII30220 Certificate III in Underground Coal Operations (read 10 October 2026)
• ABS ANZSCO: 7122 Miners (read 10 October 2026)
• Marble: Underground Mining Operators job ad, Central Victoria (read 10 October 2026)
• CareerOne: underground miner job listings (read 10 October 2026)
• BHP Form 20-F for the year ended 30 June 2024, SEC filing (read 10 October 2026)
• Newmont: Cadia operations (read 10 October 2026)
• Northern Star Resources: Kalgoorlie Operations (read 10 October 2026)
• Glencore Australia: Mount Isa Mines (read 10 October 2026)
• SEEK career advice: Miner salary (checked 10 October 2026)
• Fair Work Commission: Mining Industry Award 2020 (MA000011) (read 10 October 2026)

Role descriptions come from the ABS occupation definition and from job ads we read on 10 October 2026. Ads close and change, so they show what employers ask for, not a standing rule. We did not find a source we could load for every role people use in the industry, so roles without one are not described here. The mine list is limited to operator and filing pages we could load, and it is not a full list of Australian underground mines. SEEK figures are what employers disclose in ads, and SEEK has no underground miner page. Where we say “we suggest”, it is our advice, not a rule.