mine development engineer
Mine development engineers design and coordinate mine development operations such as crosscutting, sinking, tunnelling, in-seam drivages, raising, and removing and replacing overburden.
mine development engineer mine development engineers design and coordinate mine development operations such as crosscutting, sinking, tunnelling, in-seam drivages, raising, and removing and replacing overburden. The role shows moderate AI exposure (0.50 on a 0-1 scale) — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. The most in-demand skills for the role include impact of geological factors on mining operations, design drawings, mine safety legislation, safety engineering, mining engineering.
Pay in the UK
UK: median £51,366 a year for Civil engineers (ONS ASHE 2025, full-time)
Middle half of full-time jobs: £39,802 to £65,000 a year
UK jobs are grouped differently; this is the closest UK occupation group (ONS SOC 2020 2121). ONS rates this estimate reasonably precise. 2025 provisional figures; ONS revises them a year later. Source: ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (Open Government Licence)
Pay in India (occupation group)
Average monthly earnings of salaried employees in the occupation group “Professionals” in India, from the Government of India's Periodic Labour Force Survey (January–December 2025). It covers everyone in this group, not only mine development engineer, and it is not US pay converted to rupees.
Source: MoSPI (Government of India), Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report 2025, Table 51 — average wage/salary earnings of regular wage/salaried employees, NCO-2015 division 2. Official India data gives one average per occupation group: there are no official India figures for single careers, experience levels or cities. Read the report
Top skills
Knowledge you'll build
- Engineering and Technology
- Mathematics
- English Language
- Design
- Production and Processing
- Administration and Management
- Administrative
- Physics
What you'd actually do
- Prepare technical reports for use by mining, engineering, and management personnel.
- Inspect mining areas for unsafe structures, equipment, and working conditions.
- Select or develop mineral location, extraction, and production methods, based on factors such as safety, cost, and deposit characteristics.
- Select locations and plan underground or surface mining operations, specifying processes, labor usage, and equipment that will result in safe, economical, and environmentally sound extraction of minerals and ores.
- Prepare schedules, reports, and estimates of the costs involved in developing and operating mines.
- Monitor mine production rates to assess operational effectiveness.
Tools & technology you'd use
Frequently asked questions
What does mine development engineer do?
Mine development engineers design and coordinate mine development operations such as crosscutting, sinking, tunnelling, in-seam drivages, raising, and removing and replacing overburden.
What skills does mine development engineer need?
The most in-demand skills for this role include impact of geological factors on mining operations, design drawings, mine safety legislation, safety engineering, mining engineering, electricity. These are the skills O*NET identifies as most important for competent performance.
Will AI replace mine development engineer?
Our AI-durability model gives mine development engineer a score of 0.50 on a 0-1 scale (higher = more exposure). That places it at moderate AI exposure — some tasks are being automated but the role adapts. Learning to work with AI tools rather than against them is the path forward.