I've been reading about 19th century metallurgical mines recently. And union actions, of course. I have a (very basic) idea on what at least some of what miners did and what miners were paid and what they wanted to be paid via reading about Cripple Creek and Leadville.
But what were some other jobs associated with the mining - specifically those that would be hired by the mining companies, not just jobs that sprang up to support miners. What did they do, who was hired for them (demographically), and what did they pay? That's what I'm interested.
I can read all day about the various non-miner jobs in coal mines (especially those done by children), but finding specific info for metallurgical mines is more difficult, and I have no idea how much overlap there is.
Western hard-rock (underground) mines employed a wide variety of people. This was exclusive of milling and the means of bringing resources to the mine, needed for the operation (hauling lumber, building water systems, etc).
Miners were the technical, skilled employees who knew how to drill, set explosives, and generally retrieve valuable ore. Underground, there were also laborers, sometimes called muckers, who did the clean-up after an explosion. They did the back-breaking work of shoveling debris into ore carts to be hauled away either for processing or discard. Laborers/muckers were typically paid less than miners, and they did not necessarily belong to the union. Large prosperous mines would employ this division of labor; in smaller operations, miners did both types of work.
There were also underground carpenters who built the wooden structures/supports that were needed for safety. These workers were also often paid less than the miners, and they, too, did not belong to the union.
At the surface, the engines needed to operate the mine (pumping water out and air in), included laborers to feed the engines. There was also the hoist operator - a highly skilled technician who received a higher wage than most miners. There were also a variety of clerks and managers who would be employed at the surface. The mine superintendent managed the entire operation and would typically go below ground to inspect the progress of the mine and give directions for the next step of exploration and the retrieval of ore.
Once retrieved, ore was transported to mills - but this reaches beyond the mine itself, so it's another story.
I hope this helps.