PathLensSOUTH AFRICA · CLEARER PATHS. BRIGHTER OPTIONS.
Metallurgical or Materials Technician
OFO Code: 311702
Last checked 7 October 2026
1. Occupation identity
- OFO code
- 311702
- Occupation
- Metallurgical or Materials Technician
- Classification
- OFO 2021
- Major group
- TECHNICIANS AND ASSOCIATE PROFESSIONALS
- Unit group
- 3117 · Mining and Metallurgical Technicians
Official description
Mining and metallurgical technicians perform technical tasks to assist in research and experiments related to metallurgy, in improving methods of extracting solid minerals, oil and gas, and in the design, construction, operation, maintenance and repair of mines and mine installations, of systems for transporting and storing oil and natural gas, and for extraction of metals from ores.
More official OFO detail
Specialisations: Dye Penetrant Testing Technician, Ultrasound Technician, Industrial Radiographer, Metallurgy Laboratory Technician, Non Destructive Testing Technician, Pressure Testing Technician, Magnetic Testing Technician, Heat Treatment Technician, Mineral Analyst / Spectroscopist, Mineral Spectroscopist
- Collecting and preparing rock, mineral and metal samples, performing laboratory tests to determine properties, analyzing and reporting test results and maintaining testing equipment
- Helping plan and design mines, mine shafts, tunnels and underground first-aid facilities
- Monitoring technical, regulatory and safety aspects of the construction, installation, operation, maintenance and repair of mineral ore, oil and natural gas exploration, extraction, transport and storage installations and of mineral processing plants
- Preparing detailed estimates of quantities and costs of materials and labour required for mineral, oil and natural gas exploration, extraction, processing and transport projects
- Providing technical assistance to aid in research on and development of processes to determine the properties of metals and new alloys
- Providing technical assistance in geological and topographical surveys, and in the design and layout of oil, natural gas and mineral ore extraction and transportation systems, and processing and refining plants for minerals and metals
- Using microscopes, electromagnetic irradiation machines, spectrometers, spectrographs, densitometers and tension testing machines
- Assisting scientists in the use of electrical, sonic, or nuclear measuring instruments in both laboratory and production activities to obtain data indicating potential sources of metallic ore, gas, or petroleum
2. Demand status
Demand evidence unavailable
No approved governed OIHD graph relationship is available on this deployment for this OFO code.
PathLens does not fall back to legacy specimen demand flags when governed evidence is unavailable.
A national demand signal is not a promise of a vacancy in your town.
3. Salary evidence
No approved governed salary observation or sourced snapshot salary record is available for this OFO code yet.
Open remuneration history & calculator →4. Quick EE check
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5. Qualification
Qualification evidence pending.
Understand NQF levels, institutions & recognition → Build my qualification pathway →6. Study funding
Check all funding options, eligibility & obligations →A funding match will only be shown once a recognised qualification or study route has been identified.
7. Industry, sector and provincial context
National occupation classification. Industry and provincial context are shown only where a separate official source supports the link.
No source-backed modern OFO↔SIC 7 industry link has been ingested for this occupation yet. PathLens does not infer one from the job title.
Browse the official South African industry classification →8. Next steps — official links
9. Decision tools
10. Sources for this page
- DHET Organising Framework for Occupations (OFO 2021) · Ingested · identity spine active
Canonical OFO identity data has been ingested and validated. 1511 occupation records are recorded in the ingest artifact. - DHET Occupations in High Demand · Validated pipeline · graph publication not confirmed
The governed OIHD pipeline is active, but a successful populated graph run is not currently confirmed on this deployment. - Critical Skills List · Monitored · occupation linkage pending
Official migration sources are monitored, but PathLens does not infer visa eligibility or occupation-level eligibility from monitoring alone. - QCTO qualifications and occupational certificates · Candidate staging ready · not published
Qualification staging and human review are implemented; no qualification↔OFO relationship is published without an explicit source identifier or governed human review. - Stats SA Quarterly Labour Force Survey · Acquisition active · no approved evidence on this deployment
Official QLFS artifact discovery is active. Dataset-specific schema, weighting, reliability and review gates remain separate; a discovered artifact or executable estimator does not itself create a public claim. - SETA Sector Skills Plans / hard-to-fill vacancy tables · Partial · explicit source links only
PathLens preserves explicit source-backed SETA/activity links where present and does not infer modern SIC relationships from occupation titles.