PathLensSOUTH AFRICA · CLEARER PATHS. BRIGHTER OPTIONS.

Mining Blaster

OFO Code: 684201

Last checked 7 October 2026

PATHLENS

1. Occupation identity

OFO code
684201
Occupation
Mining Blaster
Classification
OFO 2021
Major group
SKILLED AGRICULTURAL, FORESTRY, FISHERY, CRAFT AND RELATED TRADES WORKERS
Unit group
6842 · Shotfirers and Blasters

Official description
Shotfirers and blasters, position, assemble, and detonate explosives at mining, quarrying and demolition sites.

More official OFO detail

Specialisations: Seismograph Shooter, Blasting Assistant, Underground Hardrock Blaster, Surface Blaster, Mining/Quarrying Blaster, Underground Coal Blaster

  • Assembling, or directing other workers to assemble, primer charges using detonators and explosive cartridges, and attaching electrical wires, fuses and detonating cords to primers
  • Loading explosives into blast holes
  • Covering charges, filling blast holes with rock dust, sand and other materials, and tamping material to compact charges
  • Planning and giving instructions for the lay out, depth and diameter of blast holes
  • Connecting wires, fuses and detonator cords into series, testing electrical circuits and repairing malfunctions, and connecting series to blasting machines
  • Checking depth and cleanliness of blast holes
  • Determining quantity and type of explosives to be used
  • Ensuring all explosives are detonated, and reporting and attending to misfires
  • Ensuring workplace safety and explosives handling, storage and transport procedures and regulations are followed
  • Declaring blast areas safe before and after detonation of explosives
  • Compiling and maintaining records about usage of explosives in compliance with laws and regulations

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.

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4. Quick EE check

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5. Qualification

Qualification evidence pending.

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6. Study funding

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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.
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