Help extraction craft workers, such as earth drillers, blasters and explosives workers, derrick operators, and mining machine operators, by performing duties requiring less skill. Duties include supplying equipment or cleaning work area.
U.S. Workers
6,720
Median Salary
$48,400
10-Year Growth
-1.7%
Annual Openings
700
Typical entry: High school diploma or equivalent
14 of 14 tasks have some AI capability
Exposure Trend
This score reflects estimated AI technical capability for tasks in this occupation. It does not predict employment changes, and it does not account for company-specific constraints, regulation, or adoption barriers.
Observe and monitor equipment operation during the extraction process to detect any problems.
AI: Fully automatable - Sensor fusion, anomaly detection, and predictive maintenance models can continuously observe and detect problems in equipment operation and are widely deployable by 2025.
Signal workers to start geological material extraction or boring.
AI: Fully automatable - Start/stop signaling can be fully automated using sensors, PLCs, safety interlocks, and AI-driven control systems.
Dig trenches.
AI: Fully automatable - Commercial autonomous excavators and trenching systems can perform trench digging in many controlled site conditions with minimal human intervention.
Provide assistance to extraction craft workers, such as earth drillers and derrick operators.
AI: Partial - AI and robots can assist remotely or with tooling guidance, but on-site physical assistance in unpredictable extraction environments is not fully automatable by 2025.
Drive moving equipment to transport materials and parts to excavation sites.
AI: Partial - Autonomous haulage exists in controlled mining environments, but transporting materials to varied excavation sites still often requires human operators, so only partial automation is feasible by 2025.
Unload materials, devices, and machine parts, using hand tools.
AI: Partial - Fine manipulation and unpredictable handling with hand tools remain difficult to fully automate in field conditions, although robotic aids can partially perform or assist unloading.
Set up and adjust equipment used to excavate geological materials.
AI: Partial - Setting up and adjusting excavation equipment requires physical dexterity and on-site judgment—AI can assist, guide, or teleoperate but cannot fully automate across varied sites by 2025.
Organize materials to prepare for use.
AI: Partial - Organizing materials is straightforward for inventory systems and robots in controlled environments, but field variability and ad-hoc arrangement needs limit full automation by 2025.
Repair and maintain automotive and drilling equipment, using hand tools.
AI: Partial - Diagnostics and procedural guidance can be automated, but actual repair and maintenance using hand tools require skilled human labor and are not fully automatable in 2025.
Collect and examine geological matter, using hand tools and testing devices.
AI: Partial - Automated sampling and lab analysis exist and AI can guide testing, but manual sample collection and nuanced field examination with hand tools remain only partially automatable.
Clean up work areas and remove debris after extraction activities are complete.
AI: Partial - Robots and machinery can assist with cleanup and debris removal, but uneven outdoor conditions and ad-hoc tasks prevent universal full automation by 2025.
Dismantle extracting and boring equipment used for excavation, using hand tools.
AI: Partial - Robotic systems can disassemble some equipment, but complex, variable teardown tasks using hand tools in the field still require human dexterity and judgment.
Clean and prepare sites for excavation or boring.
AI: Partial - Drones and machines can handle parts of site cleaning and preparation, but comprehensive site prep across diverse terrains still relies on human crews in 2025.
Load materials into well holes or into equipment, using hand tools.
AI: Partial - Loading materials into well holes with hand tools involves hazardous, dexterous work; mechanization can reduce manual effort but fully autonomous hand-tool loading is not feasible by 2025.