Continuous Mining Machine Operators
In short: today's best AI models could do about 0% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about the same by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 100% of the time, stays with people.
Operate self-propelled mining machines that rip coal, metal and nonmetal ores, rock, stone, or sand from the mine face and load it onto conveyors, shuttle cars, or trucks in a continuous operation.
14,000 people do this job in the US. $61,810 a year.
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on0 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet0 h
- Stays with people40 h
Continuous Mining Machine Operators, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 0 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 0 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 40 hours stay with people.
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 0%
- 0%
- 100%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 0%. Today's estimate: 0%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
None of this job's 15 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 92% of this job's working time as physical work. For 71% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 49% in a purpose-built cell, 19% in a structured facility, 2% in any setting. 0.95 of 3, the 142nd highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 8%
- No robot shown 20%
- In a purpose-built cell 49%
- In a structured facility 19%
- In any setting 2%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 15 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operate mining machines to gather coal and convey it to floors or shuttle cars.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Komatsu Joy Continuous Miner Automation (CMA) level 2 + Flexible Conveyor Train follow-me mode (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 27% | 2.5 h50 min to 5 h | Stays with people | |
| Hang ventilation tubing and ventilation curtains to ensure that the mining face area is kept properly ventilated.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 14% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Observe and listen to equipment operation to detect binding or stoppage of tools or other equipment malfunctions.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 14% | 50 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Repair, oil, and adjust machines, and change cutting teeth, using wrenches.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Apply new technologies developed to minimize the environmental impact of coal mining.Done hourly or more by most who do it.Robots: in a structured facility, Sandvik MB672 / MB670-1 bolter miner with Cutronic automated cutting cycle (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 1.7 h50 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Drive machines into position at working faces.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Sandvik AutoMine (LH517i loaders, TH551i trucks) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Check the stability of roof and rib support systems before mining face areas.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 5% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Determine locations, boundaries, and depths of holes or channels to be cut.Done hourly or more by most who do it. | 4% | 17 min8 min to 38 min | Stays with people | |
| Reposition machines to make additional holes or cuts.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Komatsu (Joy) Continuous Miner Automation — Level 2 Sequenced Table-based Automation (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 4% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Move controls to start and regulate movement of conveyors and to start and position drill cutters or torches.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Komatsu (Joy) Continuous Miner Automation (CMA) Level 2 - Sequenced Table-based Automation, Faceboss control system (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 3% | 13 min4 min to 25 min | Stays with people | |
| Conduct methane gas checks to ensure breathing quality of air.Done hourly or more by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, ExR-2 (Emissions Detector configuration) (ExRobotics) (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 8 min4 min to 17 min | Stays with people | |
| Scrape or wash conveyors, using belt scrapers or belt washers, to minimize dust production.Done several times a day by most who do it.Robots: in a purpose-built cell, Martin Washbox Cleaning System (deployed). Anthropic's rating. | 2% | 25 min13 min to 1.1 h | Stays with people |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators3% now, 3% by 2028
- Excavating and Loading Machine and Dragline Operators, Surface Mining10% now, 10% by 2028
- Helpers--Extraction Workers0% now, 0% by 2028
- Earth Drillers, Except Oil and Gas14% now, 14% by 2028
- Loading and Moving Machine Operators, Underground Mining5% now, 5% by 2028
- Rotary Drill Operators, Oil and Gas5% now, 5% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Continuous Mining Machine Operators is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 0% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 0% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five. Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Continuous Mining Machine Operators come within reach first?
- No task has a meaningful share of its time within reach now or by the end of 2028, on the long-run pace at four in five: the work is mostly people work and body work, which the site does not count.
- Which tasks of Continuous Mining Machine Operators stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Operate mining machines to gather coal and convey it to floors or shuttle cars; Hang ventilation tubing and ventilation curtains to ensure that the mining face area is kept properly ventilated; and Observe and listen to equipment operation to detect binding or stoppage of tools or other equipment malfunctions. Together such tasks are about 100% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Continuous Mining Machine Operators?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Continuous Mining Machine Operators?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 92% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 71% of the working time, 2% in any setting. Its index is 0.95 of 3. One example: Shearer position initiated roof support advance (electrohydraulic powered roof support control) for "move levers to raise and lower hydraulic safety bars supporting roofs above machines until other workers complete framing". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 15 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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