As the name suggest, profession of a mining engineer comprises a wide spectrum of engineering in the mining and mineral industry. By the nature of his or her training, experience and expertise, the mining engineer is often involved with the management of mining companies. The level of managerial responsibility depends on the individual's performance capability, experience and the position held. In addition to operational management, mining engineers are often also involved in planning and executing research and development work. In order to maintain the proud position of South African mining as a world leader, it is necessary to accept the challenges of developing and adapting techniques to further advance engineering solutions in mining.

Mining engineers are also often called upon to apply or develop new areas of expertise in mining; this is one of the reasons why the study program for Mining Engineering at the University of Pretoria is widely-based, with exposure to the principles of many other engineering-related disciplines. Mining engineers are employed at all levels throughout the industry - from recently qualified graduate mining engineers, through junior and senior management positions, to senior divisional consulting engineers and company directors.