There is no such thing as an average miner. There is no such thing as an average salary. Yet we can get some idea of how well mining people are paid by looking at the average salaries for 2011 on US metal mines recently published CostMine.
There are conventionally 2,080 work hours in a year. Thus somebody earning a wage of $20 an hour gets the equivalent of a salary of about $42,000. Considering the mine manager makes about $100,000 to $150,000 a year, it is interesting to take a look at actual wages paid to miners in the United States in 2011.
It was almost six months ago that we met at the 2011 Tailings and Mine Waste Conference in Vancouver. It is only six months until we meet at the 2012 conference in Colorado, and before that we have to write the papers. At the 2011 Vancouver conference, I chatted with Michael Davis. Then he was [...]
Today Jennifer Leinhart of CostMine sent me these two volumes: 2011 Survey Results: U.S. Coal Mine Salaries, Wages and Benefits 2011 Survey Results: U.S. Metal & Industrial Mineral Mine Salaries, Wages and Benefits In future blog postings, I will write more about the salary and wages listed in these volumes.
With a blogger’s eye, today I celebrate the miners who perished in the sinking of the Titanic. Their story epitomizes the story of all miners; people who go to the next ore body; the next mine; the next chance to earn an honest living; and who face dangers and death at every turn and move.
There are many reports on today’s new about a rant and rave by Fidel Castro on mining. Granted the old man is certifiably mad and that he runs a country supported by nickel mining and we can safely ignore all he says.
I have not done this before; I have never repeated a comment as a new posting. I do this now, not because I have become lazy and dependent on others for opinions and perspective, but because I think this comment is worthy of individual exposure and repeat.
A radical thesis: If I had a million dollars to invest in a single mine, I would go meet the mine's health and safety officer. If he impressed me, I would invest. If he did not, I would get on the next plane and fly to the next mine on the list.
A very simple answer to the question: why invest in mining in Chile? Mining is booming in Chile; they seem to have the right government; they have the resources; the climate is right for mines in the far north; and the big companies are all in play.
