I with you on that man.. There ain't no fucking way I'm doing either of those.

They do a lot of coal mining up near kentucky.

Go figure....

Well you know what Horace Greeley said. I worked in mining and mineral exploration for 22 years. Worked in all kinds of mines for MSHA. Coal seams back east can be measured in inches. Out west they are measured in feet. But I agree that coal mines suck. Coal dust, bumps, methane, bad air, etc. But just remember about everything you have or use: If it wasn't grown, it had to be mined.

The Colorado School of Mines in Golden is famous for their mining programs. Their petroleum engineering graduates earn six-figures. Starting salary. That's what I would get into.

But it all comes around. In the late 70's I was evaluating a lot of uranium properties. Then Three Mile Island happened and the price plummeted. Now look at the price of gold- $1K/ounce. Unbelievable. As for gasoline, I'm sure most of you are too young to remember the oil embargo in 1973 when you had to wait in gas lines for hours. Plus the price of gas doubled from $0.35 to $0.70/gal.

There is a guy in the house who is graduating this semester with a BS in petroleum engineering that plans on earing about 120 his first year with his signing bonus.

I think there is some sort of copper mine in Ducktown, TN. It's right there where GA,NC,and TN merge. Probably not what you are looking for but I think most stuff is quarried out here. Not sure about Tennessee.

Also not far from Deal's Gap. Maybe an hour ride.

I'm not completely sure what type of mining I am going to do. I might just go all out and get a bachelors in mining and a masters in explosives. That would be more on the strip/quarry mining side. Coal mining there is a lot of ventilation and roof support stuff.

Mining? Fuck that. I'm glad I take pictures.

But i will get to blow shit up and get paid for it.

you could do that in the Army... and according to Vabs... no need for school! :lol: