Site chief geologist
| Highest | $11,000 / mo · United States |
|---|---|
| Experience | 5+ yrs |
| Degree | Required |
| First paycheck | 4 years of study |
Pay in the destination countries
Monthly, in US dollars. Each country is an Imora admission package — open one for that route's fees, language requirement and deadline.
| Country | Monthly |
|---|---|
| United StatesTOEFL 80–100 · $10–70k | $11,000max |
| AustraliaIELTS 6.0–6.5 · AUD 30–50k | $10,800 |
| SwitzerlandIELTS 6.5 · CHF 0.9–8k | $10,550 |
| CanadaIELTS 6.0–6.5 · CAD 20–40k | $10,550 |
| NorwayIELTS 6.0–6.5 · NOK 130–260k | $10,350 |
| GermanyIELTS 6.5 · €0–3k | $10,100 |
What does the day look like?
As a mine geologist you draw the line between ore and waste: you map pits and underground faces, log diamond drill core and reverse-circulation chips, sample blast holes, update short-term block models, issue ore-control dig sheets and mark-ups to operators, then reconcile what the mill received against what the model predicted each day.
Your software stack is Gemcom Surpac, ESRI ArcGIS, Leapfrog Geo, Micromine, Datamine and an acQuire drillhole database; in the field a hand lens, core shack gear, portable XRF analyser, GPS and drone photogrammetry. Discovery is a small share of the work — most days are grade control, data entry, model updates and meetings with planners and metallurgists. The work runs on rostered shifts: fly-in fly-out from a hub city in Australia and Canada, 12-hour day and night shifts, weekend coverage and on-call grade queries when plant feed goes off spec. In the O*NET survey 52% of respondents work more than 40 hours per week and 44% are exposed to all weather outdoors at least weekly.
Where does this lead?
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