Senior Mine Operator

Skills at this level

Heavy Mining Equipment Operation

— Operates haul trucks, loaders, drills, excavators, continuous mining machines, shuttle cars and LHDs to extract and move ore, coal and waste rock safely and efficiently against production schedules.

Ground and Roof Condition Assessment

— Reads seam height, roof stability, floor conditions, water and gas during mining and adjusts operating action to keep the face and crew safe.

Mine Ventilation Support

— Hangs and maintains ventilation tubing and curtains to keep the underground mining face area properly ventilated as work advances.

Drilling and Excavation

— Uses hydraulic and motor-driven machinery to drill holes and excavate rock, coal and metals, controlling depth, sequence and material handling.

Pre-Start Inspection and Fault Reporting

— Performs walk-around and pre-start checks on mining machines, identifies defects and abnormal readings, and decides whether to operate, isolate or hand over to maintenance.

Operations Logging

— Maintains accurate logs of machine hours, tonnes moved, maintenance tasks and machinery performance during the shift for production and maintenance tracking.

Fleet Monitoring System Use

— Uses fleet monitoring software to track machine performance and cycle times and adjusts operation to keep production on target and losses down.

Short Interval Control

— Applies structured Management Operating System routines, daily production meetings and short-interval control to keep the crew's output aligned with daily, weekly and monthly targets.

Production Cycle Coordination

— Sequences loading, hauling and dumping across peer operators to keep material flowing continuously without stalling the cycle.

Operator Training and Coaching

— Teaches less experienced operators equipment technique, hazard recognition and non-routine handling on the job, and assesses their competency to progress.

Operating Procedure Development

— Contributes to creating and revising standard operating procedures, pre-start checks and routines for the equipment fleet based on field experience.

Working Lead of Operations

— Allocates machines and haul routes across a shift and facilitates peer execution of production routines, leading the work rather than managing people.