How to become a mining engineer in Australia
Mining Engineers (excluding Petroleum) plan and direct the engineering aspects of locating and extracting minerals from the earth.
Pay and growth are for the wider mining engineers group, which is as fine as the data goes. The all-jobs median is $1,852 a week. Jobs in the mining engineers group are projected to grow 18.5% between May 2025 and May 2035, faster than the 13.3% projected for all jobs. Projections are indicative, not forecasts, and JSA says they don't yet reflect generative AI.
What the job involves
- Conducts preliminary surveys of mineral deposits with prospectors, geologists, geophysicists, other mineral scientists and other engineers to determine the resources present, the feasibility of extracting the reserves, and the design and development of the extraction process.
- Prepares operation and project cost estimates and production schedules, and reports progress, production and costs compared to budget.
- Determines the most suitable methods of ore extraction taking account of such factors as depth of overburden, and attitude and physical characteristics of deposits and surrounding strata.
- Prepares plans for tunnels and chambers, location and construction of mine shafts, layout of mine development and the application of appropriate mining techniques.
- Assesses the safety risks associated with the phases of the project development, construction and operations.
- Determines the safety of processes, order of extraction and safety of mine walls, evaluates the risk of slippage and advises on the prevention of slippage and rock falls.
How to get there
What it usually takes. A bachelor degree or higher. This is the skill level Jobs and Skills Australia gives the mining engineers group, and some roles differ.
What people in the job have. Highest qualification held: 86% a degree or higher, 5% a diploma, 4% a Certificate III or IV.
Many jobs also need registration, a licence or a specific accredited course. Check the professional body or regulator before you choose.
Courses that can lead here
Estimate your ATAR and this page shows the gap to each course. Your marks stay on your device.
Victoria2 matches
VTAC lowest selection ranks, December 2025 offer round.
Showing 1 of 2 matches. Search every course.
NSW and ACT3 matches
UAC lowest selection ranks, December Round 2, 2025-26 admissions.
Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Mining) · UNSW94.20 Bachelor of Engineering (Mining Transfer Program) · Newcastle84.00 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Mining) · Wollongong80.20Queensland0 matches
QTAC course pages, ATAR/Selection Rank profile for semester 1, 2026.
No match in QTAC's list. Some courses, medicine especially, don't publish a cutoff or use their own admissions.
Western Australia2 matches
TISC Course Search: lowest ATAR offered for 2026 entry and guaranteed offer ATARs.
Bachelor of Science (Science) in Mining · Curtin, Perth68.70 Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) (Civil and Construction Engineering), Bachelor of Science (Science) in Mining (double degree) · Curtin, Perth73.30Matched on course names, 7 across four admissions centres. A lowest selection rank includes adjustment points and moves every year. Check prerequisites and whether the course is accredited for this job.
Graduate outcomes, national
Undergraduates surveyed about four to six months after finishing, in 2025, across all providers. Full-time work is among those available for it. All graduates: 75.4% and $77,000. These are national figures for the study area, not for this course or uni, and a first-year salary says little about later pay. Source: QILT Graduate Outcomes Survey 2025.
Does it fit your interests?
Strongest interest areas for this kind of work: Realistic, Investigative, Conventional.
From O*NET ratings for "Mining and Geological Engineers, Including Mining Safety Engineers", the closest US occupation in JSA's correspondence (a good match). US ratings are a guide to Australian jobs, not a measurement of them.
Careers with similar interests
Electrical engineer$2,553 Civil engineer$2,217 Structural engineer$2,217 Chemical engineer$2,849 Mechanical engineer$2,614Done this job, or studied for it?
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Share your storyJob data: © Commonwealth of Australia, Jobs and Skills Australia occupation profiles, February 2026 and Employment Projections, May 2025 to May 2035 (Victoria University), CC BY 4.0. Jobs and Skills Australia, ANZSCO 2013 Version 1.2 to O*NET-SOC 2019 Taxonomy correspondence.
Graduate outcomes: QILT Graduate Outcomes Survey 2025, National Report Tables (Social Research Centre, for the Australian Government).
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. Curve ATAR has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.