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Roof Bolters, Mining
Drills, blasts and runs the heavy machines that get oil, gas, stone and coal out of the ground.
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Oil and gas crews run and repair drilling rigs and service wells; roustabouts and helpers do the heavy work around them. Miners run machines that cut and load coal or rock and bolt mine roofs for safety. Quarry workers split and move stone, earth drillers bore wells and test holes, and blasters set explosives. Pennsylvania has stone quarries near Berks and the Lehigh Valley and natural gas wells mostly in the north and west of the state. The work is physical, outdoors or underground, and often in long shifts.
Open the oil, gas and mining worker guide
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High school courses that build toward it
- Welding and Metal Fabrication · Career and Technical
Builds how things are made, which this job uses.
- Physical Education · Health and PE
Builds teaching and training, which this job uses.
- Government and Economics · Social Studies
Builds law and government, which this job uses.
- English 10 · English
Builds reading and writing, which this job uses.
- Computer Science Principles · Computer Science
Builds computers and electronics, which this job uses.
Ranked by how much the job relies on what each course teaches, from O*NET's knowledge ratings. Your school's own courses and the counselor have the final word.
Roof Bolters, Mining on O*NET OnLine · O*NET 31.0 (U.S. Department of Labor, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections 2025.