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Cory Rockwell’s Tik Tok channel: @coryrockwell
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Cory Rockwell, a 38-year-old underground miner at Nevada Copper, a copper mine based in Yerington, Nevada. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
Growing up in Los Angeles, I knew I didn’t want to work in the Hollywood entertainment industry. Now, I’m an underground miner — and the job saved my life. During my 20s, I was lost and had no idea what I wanted to do.
At the time, I had no education, no skills, no girlfriend, and no kid. I knew if I didn’t get out of LA now I’d be stuck here forever. So I fit everything I owned in my truck and started driving on the 5 North until I ended up in Reno, Nevada, with no plans.
I had applied to supermarket jobs when a friend told me to try this place called Geotemps, a temp agency for mining jobs. I had no idea there were mines in Nevada, but I was interested, so I gave it a shot. The agency gave me a job at a lithium mine in the small town of Orovada. It was only supposed to last six months, but because there was exploratory drilling happening, I ended up staying for a year.
For the rest of this article: https://www.businessinsider.com/what-underground-mining-job-pay-is-like-2023-3