Do mining engineers really earn more than other people in other engineering disciplines even medical doctors?
For the time being there is a dramatic shortage in mining engineers – a ton of projects with funding, but nobody to execute them. Salaries tend not to move too much, since mining is cyclical. Whatever you commit to now in the “boom” is what you must live with in the “bust”. Typically companies are retaining their talent by paying out profit sharing bonuses, which in the current windfall environment can almost equal your salary. I would say that the average right now for a senior engineer (total cash compensation including bonus) is probably in the order of $130K. The other route is consulting, which is more profitable but also more risky during down cycles. At the present time mining engineers are not having too tough a time finding $120-150/hr. This means that mining engineers are temporarily doing extremely well. Petroleum engineers are doing equally well, and both are probably in the same league as your average medical GP.
