>>2516821I can tell you my experience in the roles I've had, but I'm still quite junior. I can't tell you if its "worth it" since our values are different.
I've worked as a core logging geologist for a mid level active mining company in North Ontario. Pay was really good, started at about $70k CAD. Benefits as well. Worked 7-3 M-F and lived 10 minutes from where I worked, so work life balance was fine. The culture was very corporate with an HR department. Hard to advance but secure once you do. The work was super boring though which is why I left.
Currently I'm working as a field geologist for a junior exploration company. Pay is a bit less. No benefits. On contract for $400/day as a junior geologist, senior can get $600. Typically schedule is 20 days on 10 off during the season. Days usually end up being about 10 hours. Really sucks, can't keep a schedule, or play sports or take lessons or have climbing partners when you are gone 2/3rds of the time. Difficult on relationships. The work is hard but fun. Hard days are shitty but the nice days are amazing. Flying around in a helicopter almost everyday, but it gets old quickly and how safe you feel really depends on the pilot you get. Being in a junior company things are a lot more relaxed and also more wild. When shit needs to get done you do it, no filing or chain of command or delegating. Everyone is really in it together, success feels shared between everyone in the company. Have to do a lot more than geology work though. Making helipads, tearing down camps, moving equipment, making berms with bobcats, etc. Pretty much outside every day, you get a lot of outdoors experience condensed into a short time, saw a lot of bald eagles, black bears, grizzly, moose. In Nevada I saw prong horns and a black tailed jackrabbit.
There are tons of roles, and the roles are different depending on the type of company you work for. Exploration is different than mining, and both are different than academia
>acicular pyrite 
