Scarce Skills in the Mining Industry.
Scarce skills identified by the Mining Qualifications Authority
If Science, maths and technical stuff interests you, whether it’s for your own career development or if it’s skills you wish to share with students – understanding what the scarce skills are in the job market is an advantage.
Knowledge of scarce skills helps you to identify viable and feasible career paths and business development opportunities. Check out where the current career and training opportunities are.
How to use Scarce Skills information
- Study in a field where there are many scarce skills and ensure that you possess plenty of these skills to strengthen your chances of employment
- When you are looking for a new job or career opportunity, see if you can meet any of the scarce skills in the sector you’re interested in.
- If you find yourself in a position to apply for any of these jobs, be sure to list other scarce skills you may have in your cover letter.
- If you’re a training organisation working within the mining sector, check that you are able to meet the development needs of scarce skill areas. Align your learning programs with scarce skill needs.
- Scarce skills offer both employment and business expansion opportunities.
Potential learners and training organisations should take a look at the new registered learnership qualifications and various job certificates that have been entered into the Occupational Qualifications Framework, so exciting!
Here’s a list for you, always remember qualifications lead you to the providers that are accredited to deliver them so knowing the correct information is important:
- NQF. Level 1 and 2 for those with little or no high school and limited if any work experience.
- NQF Level 3 qualifications for those with some high school and little or no work experience.
- Awesome NQF Level 4 qualifications for Matriculants or experienced workers.
List of 167 Scarce Skills in the Mining Sector
A newly updated list of critical skills is available at this link.
There are many unusual careers listed below, such as a ship’s officer.
Note that certain career opportunities depend upon where you are located.
If you want to work with ships but live in the North West – you’ll need to relocate before anyone will take you seriously.
Unless of course you start a YouTube channel and raise awareness about your dream.
Ok, that’s just an idea! But do let us know!!!
Lists of Scarce Skills in the Mining Industry
The Lists of Scarce Skills in the Mining Industry are Organised According to Occupation Codes:
Scarce Skills in the Mining Industry 734301 – 671101
| Occupation Code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 734301 | Crane Driver / Crane or Hoist Operator / Onsetter / Winding Engine Driver (Materials) |
| 734214 | Dump Truck Driver / Operator / Haul Truck Operator |
| 734211 | Dragline Operator |
| 734206 | Front-end-loader Operator/ Loader Driver /Load-haul-dump (LHD) Operator |
| 734205 | Grader Operator |
| 734204 | Excavator Operator / Hydraulic Rock Breaker Operator / Shovel Operator |
| 734203 | Bulldozer Operator |
| 734201 | Earthmoving Plant Operator (General) |
| 733208 | Mobile Mining Equipment Operator / Roof bolter Operator / Trackless Mobile Machinery (TMM) Operator |
| 733201 | Truck Driver (General) |
| 731201 | Railway Shunter |
| 731101 | Locomotive Driver |
| 721201 | Electromechanical Equipment Assembler |
| 718905 | Engineering Production Systems Worker |
| 711404 | Cement Kiln Operator |
| 711302 | Rock Drill Operator |
| 711301 | Drill Rig Operator / Driller / Drilling Plant Operator |
| 711203 | Final Diamond Processing Controller / Rough Evaluator |
| 711202 | Chain Manufacturing Operator (Jewellery Manufacturing) |
| 711201 | Machine Operator (Stone Cutting or Processing) |
| 711101 | Mining Operator / Mining Plant Operator / Roof Bolter (Mining) |
| 684202 | Blaster / Mining / Quarrying Blaster |
| 684101 | Mining Diver |
| 672105 | Instrument Mechanic / Instrument Mechanician / Instrument Mechanician (Industrial Instrumentation and Process Control) |
| 671208 | Auto Electrician / Automotive Electrician |
| 671202 | Electromechanician / Millwright / Millwright (Electromechanician) |
| 671101 | Electrical Wireman / Electrician/ Electrician (Engineering) / Electrician (General) / Winder Electrical Technician |
Scarce Skills in the Mining Industry 661303 – 642701
| Occupation Code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 661303 | Jewellery Evaluator |
| 661301 | Goldsmith |
| 653307 | Earthmoving Equipment Mechanic |
| 653306 | Diesel Fitter-mechanic / Diesel Mechanic |
| 653303 | Hydraulic Fitter / Machine Fitter (Hydraulics) / Maintenance Fitter / Mechanical Fitter |
| 653301 | Plant Maintenance Mechanic |
| 653101 | Auto Engineer / Mechanic |
| 652302 | Fitter and Turner |
| 652301 | Fitter-machinist / Turner (Metal) |
| 651501 | Rigger / Rigger Ropesman |
| 651401 | Metal Fabricator |
| 651302 | Boilermaker / Boilermaker-welder / Plater-boilermaker |
| 651203 | Fitter-welder |
| 643101 | Painter |
| 642702 | Electrical Mechanic |
| 642701 | Air Conditioning Equipment Mechanic |
Scarce Skills in the Mining Industry 541906 – 312301
| Occupation Code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 541906 | Security Consultant |
| 515301 | Maintenance Officer |
| 441903 | Project Advisor / Leader / Project Controller / Project Planner |
| 441603 | Compensation and Benefits Administrator |
| 441601 | Human Resources Clerk |
| 441301 | Coding Data Processing Clerk |
| 432201 | Planning and Liaison Officer / Production Coordinator |
| 432101 | Stock Clerk / Officer |
| 431101 | Accounts Clerk |
| 411101 | Administrative Assistant |
| 352201 | Engineering Technician (Telecommunications) |
| 351302 | Technical Support Specialist |
| 351201 | ICT Systems Analysis Assistant |
| 341201 | Community Development Officer / Community Worker |
| 335101 | Customs Officer |
| 332302 | Procurement Administrator / Coordinator / Officer / Purchasing Officer |
| 325707 | Mines Safety Officer |
| 325701 | Environmental and Occupational Health Inspector |
| 321101 | Radiographer |
| 315202 | Ships Mate / Officer |
| 315201 | Ship’s Master |
| 315101 | Ship’s Engineer |
| 313912 | Mineral Beneficiation Process Controller |
| 312301 | Clerk of Works |
Scarce Skills in the Mining Industry 312202 – 242302
| Occupation Code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 312202 | Maintenance Planner / Maintenance Scheduler |
| 312201 | Production / Operations Supervisor (Manufacturing) |
| 312102 | Miner/ Miner (Surface Excavations) / Rockbreaker / Shaft Timberman |
| 312101 | Mine Operations Foreman / Mine Overseer (Planning)/ Mine Overseer (Production)/ Pit Foreman / Production / Operations Supervisor (Mining) / Quarry Foreman / Shift Foreman / Boss (Mining) / Shift Supervisor (Mining) |
| 311801 | Design and Manufacturing Draughtsperson / Draughtsperson / Technical Draughtsperson |
| 311707 | Strata Control Officer |
| 311706 | Rock Engineering Officer / Rock Engineering Technician |
| 311705 | Mine Ventilation Observer / Mine Ventilation Officer |
| 311704 | Geological Technician / Mineral Resource Technician |
| 311701 | Mine Planner / Mine Planning Technician / Mining Technician / Section Mine Planner |
| 311601 | Energy Technician |
| 311501 | Mechanical Engineering Technician / Mechanical Instrument Technician |
| 311401 | Electronic Engineering Technician |
| 311303 | Energy Efficiency Consultant / Energy Officer |
| 311301 | Electrical Engineering Technical Officer / Electrical Engineering Technician / Electrical Instrument Technician |
| 311101 | Chemical Laboratory Technician / Analyst |
| 265203 | Instrumentalist |
| 263101 | Mineral Economist |
| 262202 | Information Management Specialist / Information Services Manager |
| 252301 | Systems Engineer |
| 251202 | Engineer (Applications / Content / IT / Software / Systems / WAN) |
| 251101 | ICT Systems Analyst |
| 243301 | Technical Sales Consultant / Coordinator / Manager |
| 243203 | Manager Public Affairs / Relations |
| 243103 | Product Manager |
| 242403 | Assessor |
| 242402 | Occupational Instructor / Trainer |
| 242401 | Training and Development Practitioner / Training Officer |
| 242303 | Remuneration and Benefits Specialist |
| 242302 | Skills Development Facilitator / Practitioner / Skills Development Strategist |
Scarce Skills in the Mining Industry 242211 – 214201
| Occupation Code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 242211 | Internal Auditor |
| 242209 | Accounting Officer |
| 242202 | Intelligence Analyst / Policy Analyst |
| 242101 | Business Support Project Manager |
| 241301 | Financial Business Analyst |
| 241106 | Accountant in Practice |
| 241103 | Tax Practitioner |
| 241102 | Cost Accountant |
| 241101 | Accountant (General) |
| 235205 | Abet Trainer |
| 226302 | Chief Safety Officer Mining / Safety, Health, Environment and Quality (SHE&Q) Practitioner / Safety Coordinator / Risk and Safety Manager / Radiation Protection Expert / Occupational Hygienist/ Health and Safety Officer / Coordinator / Professional |
| 226301 | Environmental Health Officer |
| 222104 | Occupational Health Nurse |
| 221211 | Occupational Medicine Specialist |
| 221209 | Radiologist |
| 221101 | Doctor |
| 216502 | Hydrographic Surveyor / Mine Surveyor |
| 215202 | Electronics Engineering Technologist / Instrumentation Technologist |
| 215201 | Instrumentation Engineer |
| 215104 | Energy Engineering Technologist / Energy Sustainability Specialist |
| 215103 | Energy Services Engineer |
| 215102 | Control Engineering Technologist / Electrical Engineering Technologist |
| 215101 | Control Engineer / Electrical Design Engineer / Electrical Engineer (Mines) / Electromechanical Engineer |
| 214904 | Quantity Surveyor |
| 214605 | Metallurgist |
| 214603 | Extraction Metallurgical Engineer / Metallurgical Engineer / Pyro Metallurgical Engineer |
| 214601 | Colliery Engineer/ Metalliferous Mining Engineer / Mine Ventilation Engineer / Open Cast Mining (including diamonds) Engineer / Surface Mining (including quarrying) Engineer |
| 214501 | Chemical Engineerhttps://keepclimbing.co.za/2018/05/22/finance-me-and-risk-management-internships-100-000k-p-a/The Best Nurse Cover Letter and Interview TipsThe Best Nurse Cover Letter and Interview Tips |
| 214401 | Diesel Engineer/ Maintenance Management Engineer / Mechanical Engineer / Mechanical Engineer (Mines) |
| 214301 | Environmental Engineer |
| 214202 | Civil Engineering Technologist / Construction Technologist |
| 214201 | Civil Engineer/ Geotechnical Engineer / Structural Engineer |
Scarce Skills in the Mining Industry 214102 – 112101
| Occupation Code | Occupation |
|---|---|
| 214102 | Process Design Technologist |
| 214101 | Industrial Engineer / Plant Engineer/ Process Engineer / Production Engineer |
| 213302 | Environmental Officer / Environmental Research Scientist |
| 212103 | Geostatistician/ Statistician |
| 211405 | Mineralogist |
| 211402 | Geophysicist / Hydrologist |
| 211401 | Engineering Geologist / Exploration Geologist / Geologist |
| 211301 | Analytical Chemist / Chemist |
| 143901 | Facilities Manager |
| 134916 | Operations Foreman (Non Manufacturing) |
| 134906 | Accounting Practice Manager |
| 134902 | Laboratory Manager |
| 134901 | Environmental Manager |
| 134401 | Social Services Manager |
| 134201 | Medical Manager |
| 132409 | Physical Asset Manager |
| 132401 | Supply and Distribution Manager/ Supply Chain Manager / Supply Lead Manager |
| 132301 | Construction Manager / Construction Project Manager |
| 132203 | Rock Engineering Manager |
| 132202 | Chief Geologist (Mining) / Chief Mine Planner / Chief Surveyor (Mining) / Geology Manager (Mining) / Mine Design and Planning Manage / Mine Design and Planning Manager / Mining Exploration Manager / Planning Manager (Mining) / Resource Geologist / Technical Services Manager (Mining) |
| 132201 | Production / Operations Manager (Mining) / Mine Manager / Quarry Manager |
| 132104 | Engineering Manager (Mining) / Engineering Manager / Engineering Maintenance Manager |
| 132102 | Operations Manager (Production) / Plant Manager (Manufacturing) / Plant Superintendent / Production / Operations Manager (Manufacturing) |
| 132101 | Factory Manager |
| 122301 | Research and Development Manager |
| 122102 | Sales Manager |
| 122101 | Sales and Marketing Manager |
| 121908 | Quality Manager / Quality Systems Manager |
| 121905 | Project Director |
| 121903 | Resources Manager |
| 121901 | Business Operations Manager |
| 121301 | Policy and Planning Manager |
| 121206 | Safety, Health and Environmental (SHE) Manager |
| 121203 | Compensation and Benefits Manager / Remuneration and Benefits Manager |
| 121202 | Business Training Manager / Human Resources Development Manager / Technical Training Manager |
| 121201 | Employee Relations Manager / Personnel / Human Resource Manager |
| 121101 | Finance Manager |
| 112101 | Executive Director |


Hello my name is sellwane alina Ramatla am interested in apprenticeship in environmental health officer, I have certificate occupational health and safety with Oxbridge so I want to continue learning while working. Can you please get back to me with positive feedback
Sorry Neo but we don’t offer training. Read our posts on qualifications and how to find them.
Could you please send me information on Training and Development Practitioner / Training Officer course.