9411-NOC

Labourers in mineral and metal processing

(NOC 9611)
Annual Earnings
$50,054
Typical Education Background
High School
Job Openings
(2022-2032)
230

Career Overview

Labourers in this group:

  • Perform material handling, clean up, packaging and other elemental activities related to mineral ore and metal processing
  • Work in mineral ore and metal processing plants such as copper, lead and zinc refineries, uranium processing plants, steel mills, aluminum plants, precious metal refineries, cement processing plants, clay, glass and stone processing plants and foundries

Duties

Labourers in mineral and metal processing perform some or all of the following duties:

  • Move raw materials, finished products, scrap and recyclable materials throughout plant manually or using forklift or other powered equipment
  • Feed conveyors, crushers and other equipment
  • Open valves and start pumps
  • Skim dross from furnaces
  • Sort, stack, bundle and stamp materials
  • Perform other activities to help process and machine operators in mineral ore and metal processing
  • Clean work areas and equipment
  • May help with minor repairs and maintenance

Earnings

Earnings is income that workers receive in exchange for their labour. Depending on the type of employment, earnings can be in the form of wages (hourly), salaries (fixed monthly or annual) or self-employed earnings.

Annual Earnings

$50,054

Provincial Hourly Rate

High$36.56/hr
Median$24.00/hr
Low$16.25/hr
Source: B.C. Labour Market Information Office, derived from 2022 Job Bank Wage data

Work Environment

# Workers Employed

700

% Employed Full Time

47%
Source: 2016 Census

Key aspects of the work in this occupation:

  • Work takes place in an indoor plant environment.
  • Workers may be exposed to fire, steam or intensely not surfaces that could cause injury.
  • Working with machinery, equipment and hand/power tools may be a source of injury.
  • Workers may be exposed to flying or airborne particles such as metal pieces and dust in the work environment.
  • Workers may be exposed to noise that could impair hearing.

Career Pathways

Progression to machine and process operator positions is possible with experience.

Occupational Interests

It’s important to understand what kinds of occupations align with your interests.

For more about occupational interests visit Skills for the Future Workforce > Characteristics.

Here are the top occupational interest(s) for this career profile:

Realistic
Realistic

Job Titles

Alloy mixer / annealer / dryer
Annealer / cadmium leach
Assembler, cladding / ingot cladder
Attendant, coke oven standpipe / filtering
Casting wheel / cleaner
Charger / fibreglass oven charger
Charger, cupola / furnace
Clay processing - kiln cleaner
Depiler table lever
Drawing - wire / rod / tube
Dust collector
Explosives manufacturing
Extruder / welding-rod-extruder
Furnace - cupola / blast / foundry
Glass manufacturing
Glass-forming
Kiln operator / lime kiln operator
Lead burner, zinc electrolysis
Loader, cathode / coke / furnace / scrap
Maker, carnallite flux / fluorospar flux
Marker, metal tube
Melt shop / refinery / smelter
Melter / metal pourer
Metal reclaimer / salvager
Mill - ball / billet roll / foil
Mill / ball mill
Mixer
Mixer, brick and tile / powdered metal
Moulder - asbestos
Operator, atomizer / filtering / extruding
Operator, baghouse / extruder
Operator, coil bander / cold roll catcher
Operator, sheet separator / buggy operator
Ore crushing / screening
Placer, saggar
Plasterboard cutter
Precipitator
Puller, zinc cathode / zinc drosser
Salvager, powdered metal / lead reclaimer
Scrap machine / scrap shredder
Scrap yard
Setter, stone bed
Skimmer / dross skimmer / furnace skimmer
Tailings disposal / sludge
Tar chaser, coke oven

Education, Training and Skills

Completion of secondary school may be required for some occuaptions in this group.

Education programs in B.C.

The following program areas are related to this occupation:

  • Academic/Basic Upgrading
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Find out more information about programs offered specifically for this career.

Skills

Every job calls for a certain set of skills. Knowing those skills is the first step in finding a good career fit.

Here, you will find the 10 most relevant workplace skills. Some are more important to achieving success in a certain career than others. These skills may come naturally to you or you may need to gain them through education, training and experience.

See the list of work-related skills below, ranked in order of importance for this career. Check out the list and see if this career matches your skills—take that first step!

Operation Monitoring

Watching gauges, dials or other indicators to make sure that a machine is working properly.

50%
Monitoring

Keeping track of and assessing your performance, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

48%
Active Listening

Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.

47%
Operation and Control

Controlling operations of equipment or systems.

46%
Speaking

Talking to others to share information effectively.

44%
Critical Thinking

Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.

43%
Reading Comprehension

Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.

42%
Coordination

Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

41%
Quality Control Analysis

Conducting tests and inspections of products, services or processes to evaluate quality or performance.

38%
Social Perceptiveness

Being aware of others’ reactions and understanding why they react as they do.

38%

Labour Market Statistics

Discover data, facts and information that have been gathered and analyzed. Learn about the characteristics of the economy and labour market in B.C.

Employment

Find out about employment types and trends by region and industry.

Employment

700
Source: 2016 Census

Employment by Region

Map of BC Map of Cariboo region Map of Kootenay region Map of Mainland/Southwest region Map of North Coast and Nechako region Map of Northeast region Map of Thompson-Okanagan region Map of Vancouver Island/Coast region
Cariboo
Kootenay
Mainland/Southwest
North Coast and Nechako
Northeast
Thompson-Okanagan
Vancouver Island/Coast
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Region Employment (2022) % Employment of this Occupation
Cariboo 50 5.6%
Kootenay 80 9.0%
Mainland/Southwest 470 61.1%
North Coast and Nechako 100 9.0%
Northeast N/A 0.0%
Thompson-Okanagan 40 6.9%
Vancouver Island/Coast 40 8.3%
Source: 2016 Census and B.C. Labour Market Outlook

Labour Market Outlook

The B.C. Labour Market Outlook is a 10-year forecast of the expected supply and demand for labour in the province. It’s usually updated every year. The purpose is to provide British Columbians with the knowledge to make informed decisions on careers, skills training, education and hiring.

Forecasted Job Openings (2022-2032)

230
Source: B.C. Labour Market Outlook

Forecasted Job Openings

Forecasted Employment Growth Rate

Composition of Job Openings

Source: B.C. Labour Market Outlook

Job Openings by Region (2022-2032)

Map of BC Map of Cariboo region Map of Kootenay region Map of Mainland/Southwest region Map of North Coast and Nechako region Map of Northeast region Map of Thompson-Okanagan region Map of Vancouver Island/Coast region
Cariboo
Kootenay
Mainland/Southwest
North Coast and Nechako
Northeast
Thompson-Okanagan
Vancouver Island/Coast
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Region Job Openings Avg. Annual Employment Growth
Cariboo 0 0.0%
Kootenay 0 0.0%
Mainland/Southwest 160 0.2%
North Coast and Nechako 20 1.8%
Northeast N/A N/A
Thompson-Okanagan 0 2.3%
Vancouver Island/Coast 0 2.3%
N/A: Data is not available for this region.
Source: B.C. Labour Market Outlook

Industry Highlights

Learn about the opportunities in B.C.'s major industries, including employment trends, earning potential, locations of work and more.

Forecasted Job Openings by Industry

IndustryJob Openings (2022-2032)
Manufacturing49,200
Wholesale Trade33,100
Construction72,700
Mining and Oil and Gas Extraction12,000
Retail Trade115,500
For additional industry information, visit the Industry Profiles page.
Source: 2016 Census and B.C. Labour Market Outlook

Resources