Demand for mine workers is almost back at boom-time levels, but changes in technology and growth in automation mean the jobs will be different this time around.

Key points: WA mining jobs are at the highest level since the boom-time peak in 2013

WA mining jobs are at the highest level since the boom-time peak in 2013 Automation is expected to affect more than 30 per cent of mining jobs in the Pilbara

Automation is expected to affect more than 30 per cent of mining jobs in the Pilbara To combat that the training sector is adapting, offering courses in emerging areas like robotics

In 2013, at the peak of the last mining boom, more than 116,000 people worked in the sector in Western Australia.

By 2016 there had been an almost 30 per cent decline in employment.

But with increasing production and strong prices in gold and iron ore, there is once again growing demand for workers.

Mining jobs are at the highest level since the boom-time peak, at more than 106,000 people.

Rio Tinto already has 400 workers at its remote operations plant in Perth. ( Supplied: Rio Tinto )

WA State Training Board chairman Jim Walker said technology was transforming jobs to an increasing extent.

Mr Walker is currently working with the mining industry and Perth's South Metropolitan TAFE to develop new courses to prepare workers for an increase in automation.

"The TAFE area have already got technology courses," he said.

"But now the resources and oil and gas guys are coming and putting the spin on what they need."

Three new courses will be made available for vocational educational training (VET) students at school or students at TAFE.

Automation a 'huge concern' for many workers

In a report released earlier this year, consultancy firm McKinsey and Company estimated that between 3.5 million and 6.5 million full-time Australian jobs could be affected by automation technologies.

It estimated that in Western Australia's Pilbara region, where mining is the dominant employer, more than 30 per cent of jobs could be affected.

Union organiser Jeff Carig is working with mining companies about the transition to automated jobs on behalf of Western Mine Workers Alliance members.

He said the issue was of significant concern for his members.

"I feel for workers broadly, and in particular the WA worker and the WA economy," he said.

Autonomous haulage trucks are becoming a more common sight on mine sites. ( Supplied: Rio Tinto/Christian Sprogoe Photography )

Mr Carig said he and his colleagues were working off estimates of approximately 20,000 automated jobs earmarked for the WA mining sector.

"What we would like to see is transparency around that claim," he said.

"That is a huge concern."

In the meantime, Mr Carig said the union would ensure its members were offered the chance to retrain.

"We'll assist them by holding [companies] to account in terms of upskilling and training," he said.

"We talk to our members regularly about the redeployment process."

'We understand our job is changing'

Jim Walker said it was important for both the miners and their employees to be pro-active about the changes automation would have on the industry.

"It does replace jobs," he said.

"But what's actually happening in the mining operations right now, they still need people to service the equipment, they still need people to work in the control rooms, they still need people to actually work in getting the equipment running every day."

The head of strategic industry projects at North Metropolitan TAFE Peter Ebell said mining courses across the training sector had been transformed by advancements in technology.

"Automation's been around a long while, but I'd say the emphasis has been in the past five years," he said.

One of Rio Tinto's driverless train pulls dozens of carriages full of iron ore across the Pilbara. ( Supplied: Rio Tinto )

Mine surveyor and TAFE lecturer Louisa Rubelo said the main changes to the way she works and what she teaches is in the collection of data and how it is applied.

"We're becoming more data analysts," she said.

"We understand that our job is changing, not necessarily being eliminated, and that we become pioneers in taking on that new technology."

Curtin University's WA School of Mines will roll out a new curriculum in 2020, to focus on emerging areas like robotics and data analytics.

Director Sabina Shugg said the industry had changed and she wanted her students to be prepared.

"Post the boom, people have really had to be more cost conscious and a lot of that is about productivity," she said.

"Those productivity changes have meant there's been a big reliance on automation, big data and digital approaches and really we need to be making sure our graduates are able to lead in the industry."

Workers study to keep up with technological shift

Volker Schilling has worked in the iron ore industry for decades and currently oversees the operation of an automated mine site.

Mr Schilling said automation has improved the way he works.

"It's become quicker and much more accurate and basically safer," he said.

"As a surveyor in the 1990s I used to walk around the pit face [which I don't do] any more because automation has basically stopped us having to do that."

Volker Schilling has seen how automation improves the way he works. ( ABC News: Bridget Fitzgerald )

But he said he has ensured he has been prepared for each change by engaging in more training at TAFE.

"Some of the jobs will be changing, but they won't be eliminated," he said.

"Most surveyors are now dealing with lots and lots of data, but they are the best people to do that."

Fellow student Paul Bernasconi has worked in mining since 2006 and he is currently at TAFE part-time.

He does not feel his job is threatened by automation and agrees with Volker Schilling technology has improved efficiency.

"Back when you first started, you would spend an hour capturing 100 - 200 points, whereas now you can capture millions of points in five minutes," he said.

"It's really increased the quality and helps us make a lot better decisions."