PathLensSOUTH AFRICA · CLEARER PATHS. BRIGHTER OPTIONS.
Gemstone Cutter
OFO Code: 711204
Last checked 7 October 2026
1. Occupation identity
- OFO code
- 711204
- Occupation
- Gemstone Cutter
- Classification
- OFO 2021
- Major group
- PLANT AND MACHINE OPERATORS AND ASSEMBLERS
- Unit group
- 7112 · Mineral and Stone Processing Plant Operators
Official description
Mineral and stone processing plant operators operate and monitor machinery and equipment for processing rocks, minerals and stone to recover refined products for immediate use or further processing.
More official OFO detail
Specialisations: Gem Polisher, Lapidary
- Separating metal and mineral concentrates from ore and alluvial deposits by thickening, flotation, gravity separation, filtration, and or magnetic and electrostatic separation
- Monitoring and maintaining the flow of unprocessed rocks, minerals and stones from conveyors into machines
- Operating washing, separating, leaching, precipitating, filtering, extracting and combining equipment to remove waste material and recover minerals
- Sorting, stacking and moving processed minerals and stone for packaging, further processing or shipping
- Combining mineral ores with solvents to facilitate further processing
- Positioning blocks and slabs of stone onto machines for sawing, cutting and further working
- Setting up and operating stationary plant and machinery which grind, crush, cut, saw and slice rocks, minerals and stones according to the specifications for the job
- Examining processed materials visually or with hands to ensure compliance with established standards and job specifications, and may collect samples for testing in laboratories
- Observing meters, gauges and control panels, and adjusting valves and controls to ensure the safe and efficient operation of equipment, and detecting malfunctions, and assisting with plant and machinery maintenance and repair
- Recording information about processing completed during shifts, such as quantities, types and dimensions of materials produced
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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Answer three quick questions for a rough read. This is workforce context, not a hiring decision.
Select the employer size and your profile to get a quick read.
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.