Ore Refiner

The ore refiners of Ironforge are responsible for taking the raw ores brought in from the mining operations in the mountains and refining them into pure substances so that they can be used by jewelers and metalworkers.

Career

Qualifications

Becoming an ore refiner does not require any formal education, although some employers require a short apprenticeship or probationary period where the new hire can learn the physical skills needed to perform the job well. They must learn how to handle both the raw and refined ore, as well as how to perform the actual refining process. Another key skill acquired mostly through experience is how to balance safety and efficiency: working with the various refining processes can be incredibly dangerous but time-consuming with too much caution: although many refineries have specific protocols to maximize safety, most experienced refiners can take more risks to save time without becoming injured. Generally, the longer a refiner has been at their craft, the more efficient they can be without sacrificing safety. In many cases, this means that more experienced refiners are more desirable for employment and newcomers may have a difficult time getting into the profession without any prior experience or connections.

Payment & Reimbursement

Payment in the ore refining field is modest, but certainly reliable. One can often pick up extra hours to earn more money, and there is always a steady stream of raw ore entering the city. This means there is always ample work to do and the risk of being laid off due to lackof material is very low.

Perception

Purpose

The ore refiner's work is highly essential to the mining industry and to the jewel and metal industries as offshoots of this. Before ore refineries were conceived, metal extraction from ore was often highly inefficient and resulted in impure metals. This slowed down blacksmiths and metalworkers, and lowered the quality of their craft. Likewise, jewelers had to extract jewels from the rocks themselves, or hope that the miners could somehow dig out most of the jewel and still leave much of the scrap behind. The existence of ore refineries has greatly increased the efficiency of the connected industries and boosted the quality of materials used in craft, which in turn increases their value especially to foreign customers and for export to other countries.

Social Status

Despite the essential role that ore refiners play in the industries vital to the wealth of cities like Ironforge, it is not a respected profession for many folk. Because they work in dirty conditions, many refiners leave their workplaces in a disheveled, sooty state, leading those not familiar with the work to see them as lowly stone grubbers, scrabbling among the coal and dirt to gather metal and jewels to sell to craftsfolk. They believe it is a job which requires no skill, thanks to its lack of education requirements, and middle- and upper-class citizens look down on them with the same contempt they might reserve for chimneysweeps and sewer workers. Even though they can recognize the importance of the mines and miners, equally physically demanding labor with a similarly low education threshold, they cannot recognize the essential role of the ore refiners - after all, the metal and jewelry industries had been able to extract the material themselves before ore refineries had existed. They fail to see the role this profession has played in growing those industries and making them such an essential part of the economy.

Operations

Tools

The standard uniform of a refiner is built for its protective qualities. Typically, it consists of thick woolen hose and a cotton shirt, over which a woolen doublet is fashioned. Many wear leather overclothes, particularly aprons, over top of the woolens to provide extra protection. Many refiners wear thick leather gloves to protect their hands and often a pair of thick goggles to protect the eyes.

The refiners who work in metal refining often skip the thick woolens for more breathable linen, but add leather arm covers over their forearms. They will also often wear scarves or other fabrics across their noses and mouths to prevent them from breathing in coal dust and potentially developing black lung disease, which affects those who chronically inhale coal dust thanks to their professions.

Those who work in jewel extraction may sometimes work with smaller tools to preserve as much of each gem as possible. In these cases, they swap out their leather gloves for miniature tools and their protective goggles for thick magnifying lenses to get a closer look at each gem's borders. Others who work with the most dangerous substances in extraction will wax their leather garments profusely. They aim to expose as little skin as possible in case of spills, so they also wear leather hoods with glass lenses for visibility.

Dangers & Hazards

Working in ore refineries is a very dangerous job. Many refineries have a lot of heavy equipment for moving larger objects or for quickly processing materials, and the workers who operate and supervise these machines risk getting body parts caught in the gears or moving parts and losing them. Many ore refiners sport one or two stumps where their fingers or toes once were, and the more unfortunate workers may be missing whole limbs.

For those working in metal refining, the risks are increased by the presence of extremely hot fires, molten metal, and smoke. Less fortunate workers may have large burn cars across their bodies or "melted" flesh where an accident has exposed them to extremely high temperatures. They can also develop black lung and other respiratory diseases from inhaling smoke and coal dust.

Aside from the risk of injury, workplace deaths are rather common in ore refineries. These are generally caused by one too many corners being cut, and a worker taking an unnecessary risk to increase their efficiency. These may affect the risk taker or those around them, and the one responsible for the accident is generally let go or punished for the incident. Most often, these accidents are caused by and affect most the newest workers, who have not yet found the balance between safety and efficiency or who do not know how to avoid being caught up in any accidents or malfunctions that might occur on their own.

Injured or disabled ore refiners are often compensated well for this harm. Many refineries will cover workplace-related medical expenses, and will allow refiners to continue working as long as they are physically capable. If a worker is unable to continue working due to extensive injuries, they receive at least partial pay for several years if they have worked there long enough.