Mining and quarry workers and related operatives: pay and what the work involves

Occupation 8132 · Process, plant and machine operatives

Mining and quarry workers and related operatives

Quarry workers erect supports in underground workings, set and detonate explosives to loosen rocks and set up and operate drilling equipment to extract coal and other minerals from the ground, and operate machinery to wash, crush or separate stone and ores.

How people enter it

There are no formal academic entry requirements. Training is typically provided on-the-job. NVQs/ SVQs in land drilling operations at level 2 and processing operations (extractive industries) at level 3 are available. There is a minimum age limit of 18 for underground work.

What the work involves

inspects blasting area, drills shot holes, inserts explosives and detonates charges to loosen large pieces of rock, coal or ore
assembles drilling and cutting tools, operates controls to start machines and to regulate the speed and pressure of cutting and drilling
erects timber or metal supports to shore up tunnel and assists tunnel miner with the excavation of vertical shafts and underground tunnels
operates heading, ripping and cutting-loading machines to remove material from working face and monitors conveyor carrying away loose material
conveys goods and materials to and from the workface, loads and unloads mine cars and transfers materials from underground and surface conveyors to bunkers, tubs and rail trucks
operates agitators/vibrators to separate minerals and ensures that screened, filtered, crushed and separated material is discharged to appropriate chutes or conveyors
performs other mining and quarrying tasks not elsewhere classified including digging clay from open pits, operating high-pressure hoses to wash china clay from open pit faces and otherwise assisting miners

Also called

Coal miner · Derrickman (oil wells) · Diamond driller (well sinking) · Plant operator (quarry) · Quarry operative

What it pays

Measure	Hours	Basis	Period	Value	Source
8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	None	2026-03	6,200.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	None	2026-03	7,000.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	None	2026-03	8,900.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	None	2026-03	—	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020) Not published: Estimate is less than 500
8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	None	2026-03	1,900.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	None	2026-03	9,200.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	None	2026-03	800.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Region	Measure	Hours	Value	Period
East	8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	2,100.00	2026-03
East Midlands	8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	withheld	2026-03
London	8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	withheld	2026-03
North East	8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	1,300.00	2026-03
North West	8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	withheld	2026-03
Northern Ireland	8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	withheld	2026-03
Scotland	8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	1,900.00	2026-03
South East	8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	withheld	2026-03
South West	8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	1,300.00	2026-03
Wales	8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	800.00	2026-03
West Midlands	8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	withheld	2026-03
Yorkshire and The Humber	8132 : Mining and quarry workers and related operatives	None	withheld	2026-03

Common questions

Does pay for mining and quarry workers and related operatives vary by region?

ONS publishes regional pay for this occupation where the survey sample supports it — 5 of 12 cells on this page. The rest are withheld by ONS, and are shown as withheld with the reason, rather than left out.

Where do these pay figures come from?

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, published by the Office for National Statistics. Figures are shown exactly as ONS publishes them — we do not adjust, model or fill them in, and every number on this page carries the series and period it came from.

Classified alongside this

Energy plant operatives · Paper and wood machine operatives · Plant and machine operatives n.e.c. · Printing machine assistants · Water and sewerage plant operatives