Mine Surveyor
⛏️A surveyor who works underground: measures mines and quarries, builds 3D models of the workings, makes sure tunnels meet and rock doesn't collapse.
Prospects & pay
What the work is like
💼 Job market
🇺🇸 $88.8k a year on average
Surveyors, cartographers, & photogrammetrists — US: Census ACS 2020–24 (full-time), BLS projections 2025–35
🇬🇧 £46.7k median a year · 54,000 jobs
Chartered surveyors — UK: ONS ASHE 2025 (full-time)
🤖 AI & automation
Laser scanners, drones and AI build the models almost by themselves, but working in the mine, checking stability and signing off records stay with the surveyor.
Who it suits
Interests: 🌋 Planet: ocean, climate, geology, 📐 Maths and data, 🏕️ Outdoor work, expeditions, ⚙️ Tech and engineering.
Key strengths: maths, attention to detail.
Where to study
- Bachelor's BSc Mine Surveying, Geomatics or Mining Engineering
- Master's MSc Markscheidewesen / Mine Surveying (e.g. TU Bergakademie Freiberg, DE)
- Course Statutory mine surveyor certificate where mining law requires it
Key school subjects (A-level / IB / AP): Maths, Geography, Physics.
🧗 A degree in geomatics or mining engineering, then experience and, where mining law requires it, a statutory certificate. European mining is small (Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany); demand is big in Australia and Canada.
Universities
🇬🇧 United Kingdom
- Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter Penryn · €35.9k/yr
BEng Mining Engineering, Penryn (Cornwall), £31,200/yr (2026); Attestat + foundation (INTO Exeter) * - University of Aberdeen Aberdeen
BEng Petroleum Engineering (4 years, Scotland); Attestat + foundation; IELTS usually 6.0–6.5 * - Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh
Petroleum Engineering is MSc only (£29,960/yr); needs an engineering or science bachelor's degree
🇺🇸 United States
- Colorado School of Mines Golden, CO · €41.8k/yr
non-resident tuition $44.8k + $3.2k fees; TOEFL/IELTS/DET for non-native speakers - Texas A&M University College Station · €34.2k–35.8k/yr
TOEFL 4.5 (sections 4+) / IELTS 6.0, or SAT EBRW 560 / ACT English 21; non-resident tuition - Pennsylvania State University University Park, PA · €38.8k/yr
out-of-state rate $22.3k per semester (lower division); TOEFL/IELTS/DET for non-native speakers
🇩🇪 Germany
- TU Bergakademie Freiberg Freiberg · free
No tuition; German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); Russian certificate: via Studienkolleg (FSP) * - Clausthal University of Technology Clausthal-Zellerfeld · free
No tuition; German C1 (DSH-2/TestDaF 4x4); Russian certificate: via Studienkolleg (FSP) * - RWTH Aachen University Aachen · free
No tuition; German: DSH-2, TestDaF 4 in all parts or DSD II; Russian certificate: via Studienkolleg (FSP)
🇳🇱 Netherlands
- Delft University of Technology Delft · €19.9k/yr
VWO level: Russian certificate assessed individually (usually + 1 university year); IELTS 6.5 (Dutch-taught 5.5); NF: Architecture, Clinical Technology - Utrecht University Utrecht · €13.4k–17.1k/yr
Certificate + usually 1 university year; IELTS ≈ 6.5; veterinary medicine (225 places) and medicine are numerus fixus, apply by 15 January - University of Groningen Groningen
VWO level by file review; IELTS 6.5 (by programme); €100 fee; numerus fixus by 15 January, others by 1 May, non-EU conditions by 1 July
🇫🇷 France
- Mines Paris – PSL Paris
No direct entry from school: concours after 2 years of CPGE (MP/PC/PSI, Mines-Ponts concours); taught in French * - IFP School Rueil-Malmaison
Master's only (energy/petroleum, partly in English); first do a bachelor's elsewhere * - ENSG – National School of Geology Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy
No direct entry from school: concours after 2 years of CPGE (BCPST, G2E concours); taught in French *
🇮🇹 Italy
- Politecnico di Torino Turin
TIL test or SAT (not for architecture); English/Italian B2; 12 school years, else first university year or foundation - University of Bologna (Offshore Engineering for Energy Transition) Ravenna · €1.2k/yr
This is an English-taught master's (Ravenna); engineering bachelor's in Bologna: 12 years, B2, TOLC/SAT * - Politecnico di Milano (Urban Planning) Milan · €160–3.9k/yr
TOL/architecture test, B2 in the language of study; 12 school years, else a university year or foundation *
🇪🇸 Spain
- Polytechnic University of Madrid (School of Mines and Energy) Madrid · €6.8k–8.2k/yr
Spanish B2 (ACLES/DELE); homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE; non-EU pay 4th-attempt rate - University of Oviedo Mieres
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE; mining at Mieres * - Polytechnic University of Catalonia (UPC) Manresa · €1.8k/yr
Homologation + UNEDasiss, PCE for score; non-EU €30/ECTS; some classes in Catalan
🇨🇿 Czech Republic
- VSB – Technical University of Ostrava Ostrava · €0–4k/yr
Free in Czech; English bachelor's CZK 50,000 per semester (≈€4,000/yr) - Charles University Prague · free
Free in Czech (Czech ≈B2 + exams, ÚJOP course); English programmes €40–30,620/yr - Masaryk University Brno · €0–16k/yr
Free in Czech; English €2,700–7,500/yr (Informatics €4,500), Medicine CZK 380,000; Czech ≈B2 + entrance exams
Things to know
🛢️ Dirt, noise, smells🏔️ Long stints far from home⚠️ Real danger to life
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