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Russia pulls 500 million tons of asbestos out of a single open pit mine per year. https://www.icij.org/investigations/dangers-dust/russia-worlds-asbestos-behem

Russia pulls 500 million tons of asbestos out of a single open pit mine per year. https://www.icij.org/investigations/dangers-dust/russia-worlds-asbestos-behemoth/#:~:text=Nearly%20half%20a%20million%20metric,from%20the%20mine%20each%20year https://www.icij.org/investigations/dangers-dust/russia-worl.... I'd be willing to bet that mine isn't terribly automated, and they're pulling serious amounts out. The mine you mention in Australia sounds cool. It's not on this top 10 list, which has many other, seemingly larger, open pit Mines in places like Russia, etc. That again, are likely not very automated. https://www.mining-technology.com/features/feature-top-ten-deepest-open-pit-mines-world/ https://www.mining-technology.com/features/feature-top-ten-d... It really depends on what resources you are talking about and where in the world. I agree with you for things like copper. I don't at all agree with you for things like diamonds, gold, most gems, rare earth metals, titanium, asbestos, etc.

defrost 3y ago
Ural Asbest, Russia isn't running semi autonomus trucks, no - that's the current wave that hasn't yet tounched there .. but they are hitting a half billion tonne / annum target and that does take skills - planning , blasting, maintaining 100 tonne haulpaks, city scale power stations, etc. https://www.uralasbest.ru/index.php?q=en/about-company https://www.uralasbest.ru/index.php?q=en/about-company I'm chasing the grandparent comment that mining is "low skill" work to point out that some actual focused effort is required. Diamonds come either direct from Kimberlite pipes or from the downwash from their erosion. As you likely know from your school of mines it takes some not low skill level magnetic surveying to find and identify good kimberlite pipes. While we all know stories of conflict diamonds and the related dubious conditions there remains many diamond mines underpinned by skilled techniques; - machine use and maintenaince to remove the overburden and core deep into the earth without collapse, often in severe environments ("trad" mining) and of course the new (well, a few decades old) techniques of marine vacuum mining https://www.wsj.com/articles/de-beers-harvests-diamonds-at-the-bottom-of-the-sea-1476973582 https://www.wsj.com/articles/de-beers-harvests-diamonds-at-t... Custom build floating exploration | extraction plants don't roll cheap so you know the volume is there for the profit to foot those bills. Gold, bulk gold, comes mainly from superpits ( eg: https://www.superpit.com.au/ https://www.superpit.com.au/ ) that return ~ $billion per annum, rare earths like lithium are another local resource and again from modern mines like Greenbushes .. there's a hard rock engineer from there commenting on HN and maybe you can make the case that their work is low skilled. (I'll stand clear). With demand growing at numbers that hit billions of tonnes per year it takes applied technology to reach the goals expected, it's not exactly easy. With massive fuel demands we also see miners leading the way in advancing new green (and cheaper, less polluting) technologies (eg: https://fortescue.com/what-we-do/green-energy-research/green-ammonia https://fortescue.com/what-we-do/green-energy-research/green... | https://fortescue.com/what-we-do/green-energy-research/green-hydrogen https://fortescue.com/what-we-do/green-energy-research/green... )
- iancmceachern 3y ago
  You are clearly on a mission. The key thing that I think you are missing is that you are conflating miners with mining engineers. You have very specific experiences and are close to mining in a way that the broader public isn't. To lost of the broader public, when they say miner they mean a guy that's all black from digging coal carrying a pick axe. The grandparent comment was referring to that, old, industrial revolution image of a miner. You shouldn't take offense.
  - defrost 3y ago
    > The key thing that I think you are missing is that you are conflating miners with mining engineers. Not at all - I'm talking about miners as in "all the people that work on the minesites that produce the overwhelming mass of raw minerals extracted ever year". Mining engineer is just one job of many. Electrians, boilermakers, diesal mechanics, storemasters, riggers, splicers, uphole drillers, control system specialists, machine operators (generally ticketed by machine class of which there are many), blast specialists, track and rail crews, . . . . These are all skilled trades. > To lots of the broader public, when they say miner they mean a guy that's all black from digging coal carrying a pick axe. Yes, they do. And that's essentially incorrect. I'm pointing out that is incorrect .. and for some reason you're apparently taking issue with that correction. I'm not offended that many people have many misconceptions about many things, occasionally, as above, I point out misconceptions and move on. I am perplexed as to why yourself, an apparent self declared graduate of a school of mines that presumeably teaches some skill set, goes to such lengths to oppose correction to stereotype. I'm starting to wonder whether in fact you've ever actually worked on a minesite.
    - iancmceachern 3y ago
      I haven't, never said I did. I wanted to put this to bed so I pulled some stats. It turns out it's shades of Grey. According to the BLM the average wage for the mining industry in the US is $21 an hour. According to the stats linked to below there are several industries above Mining as far S average wage, some significantly so. But at the same time mining is way above the service and accommodations industry, which is dead last on this data. Which I think was your point. Mining shouldn't be compared to the accommodations industry as far as average wage and technical skill are concerned. Just because both come in below the top 5 or so doesn't mean they're all at the bottom. https://www.statista.com/statistics/243834/annual-mean-wages-and-salary-per-employee-in-the-us-by-industry/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/243834/annual-mean-wages...

defrost 3y ago

Ural Asbest, Russia isn't running semi autonomus trucks, no - that's the current wave that hasn't yet tounched there .. but they are hitting a half billion tonne / annum target and that does take skills - planning , blasting, maintaining 100 tonne haulpaks, city scale power stations, etc. https://www.uralasbest.ru/index.php?q=en/about-company https://www.uralasbest.ru/index.php?q=en/about-company I'm chasing the grandparent comment that mining is "low skill" work to point out that some actual focused effort is required. Diamonds come either direct from Kimberlite pipes or from the downwash from their erosion. As you likely know from your school of mines it takes some not low skill level magnetic surveying to find and identify good kimberlite pipes. While we all know stories of conflict diamonds and the related dubious conditions there remains many diamond mines underpinned by skilled techniques; - machine use and maintenaince to remove the overburden and core deep into the earth without collapse, often in severe environments ("trad" mining) and of course the new (well, a few decades old) techniques of marine vacuum mining https://www.wsj.com/articles/de-beers-harvests-diamonds-at-the-bottom-of-the-sea-1476973582 https://www.wsj.com/articles/de-beers-harvests-diamonds-at-t... Custom build floating exploration | extraction plants don't roll cheap so you know the volume is there for the profit to foot those bills. Gold, bulk gold, comes mainly from superpits ( eg: https://www.superpit.com.au/ https://www.superpit.com.au/ ) that return ~ $billion per annum, rare earths like lithium are another local resource and again from modern mines like Greenbushes .. there's a hard rock engineer from there commenting on HN and maybe you can make the case that their work is low skilled. (I'll stand clear). With demand growing at numbers that hit billions of tonnes per year it takes applied technology to reach the goals expected, it's not exactly easy. With massive fuel demands we also see miners leading the way in advancing new green (and cheaper, less polluting) technologies (eg: https://fortescue.com/what-we-do/green-energy-research/green-ammonia https://fortescue.com/what-we-do/green-energy-research/green... | https://fortescue.com/what-we-do/green-energy-research/green-hydrogen https://fortescue.com/what-we-do/green-energy-research/green... )

iancmceachern 3y ago
You are clearly on a mission. The key thing that I think you are missing is that you are conflating miners with mining engineers. You have very specific experiences and are close to mining in a way that the broader public isn't. To lost of the broader public, when they say miner they mean a guy that's all black from digging coal carrying a pick axe. The grandparent comment was referring to that, old, industrial revolution image of a miner. You shouldn't take offense.
- defrost 3y ago
  > The key thing that I think you are missing is that you are conflating miners with mining engineers. Not at all - I'm talking about miners as in "all the people that work on the minesites that produce the overwhelming mass of raw minerals extracted ever year". Mining engineer is just one job of many. Electrians, boilermakers, diesal mechanics, storemasters, riggers, splicers, uphole drillers, control system specialists, machine operators (generally ticketed by machine class of which there are many), blast specialists, track and rail crews, . . . . These are all skilled trades. > To lots of the broader public, when they say miner they mean a guy that's all black from digging coal carrying a pick axe. Yes, they do. And that's essentially incorrect. I'm pointing out that is incorrect .. and for some reason you're apparently taking issue with that correction. I'm not offended that many people have many misconceptions about many things, occasionally, as above, I point out misconceptions and move on. I am perplexed as to why yourself, an apparent self declared graduate of a school of mines that presumeably teaches some skill set, goes to such lengths to oppose correction to stereotype. I'm starting to wonder whether in fact you've ever actually worked on a minesite.
  - iancmceachern 3y ago
    I haven't, never said I did. I wanted to put this to bed so I pulled some stats. It turns out it's shades of Grey. According to the BLM the average wage for the mining industry in the US is $21 an hour. According to the stats linked to below there are several industries above Mining as far S average wage, some significantly so. But at the same time mining is way above the service and accommodations industry, which is dead last on this data. Which I think was your point. Mining shouldn't be compared to the accommodations industry as far as average wage and technical skill are concerned. Just because both come in below the top 5 or so doesn't mean they're all at the bottom. https://www.statista.com/statistics/243834/annual-mean-wages-and-salary-per-employee-in-the-us-by-industry/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/243834/annual-mean-wages...