The Society for Mining, Metallurgy and Exploration has 13,000 members.
Some of these are metallurgical technicians.
Scott Pawelka is the chief technical officer in the metallurgical engineering
department at the Colorado School of Mines. He says job opportunities for
metallurgical technicians have become more competitive due to layoffs caused
by the slower economy.
"But the opportunities are out there," he says. "Encourage people to look
around. This is one of the more open fields in terms of having a future to
it."
Employment opportunities in the mining industries are limited in North
America at the current time, according to Pawelka. "But there is plenty of
work in overseas mining operations if people are willing to work out of the
country," he adds.
Pawelka estimates that metallurgical technicians with a bachelor's degree
might earn from $50,000 to $70,000 per year.
Earnings and employment information from the U.S. Department of Labor is
not available for this field at this time.