Pit Boss

Les Presmyk ’75 was a junior in high school when he set his sights on mining engineering — and on the University of Arizona as the place to pursue it. 

The choice proved prescient. While other programs were struggling, Presmyk recalls the U of A’s program in Mining and Geological Engineering continued to graduate 10 to 15 engineers every year. “Meanwhile some programs had dwindled to as few as two students,” he says. “Several were on the verge of shutting down altogether.” 

Presmyk enrolled in the College of Mines Work Co-op Program, beginning work the day after he graduated from high school.  He traded the classroom for the field — or, more precisely, for what lay beneath it. By the time he graduated from the U of A, he’d spent almost two and a half years with Miami Copper Company, gaining hands-on experience in mines, mills, assay labs and engineering departments across the company. 

The decades that followed saw Presmyk rise through the ranks at Magma Copper Company. “The classroom provided the basis for all of the engineering disciplines: mechanical, civil and mining,” he says. “Nothing beats practical experience, however. At Magma Copper, I immersed myself in the day-to-day production at a mine.” That drive paid off: Within a few years, Presmyk had climbed from front-line production supervisor to the youngest assistant general mine foreman in the company’s history. Success then opened the door to a pivotal role at the Salt River Project, where he took on big-picture responsibilities, managing coal supply contracts and mine planning, capital and reclamation budgets on behalf of the co-owners of five coal-fired generating stations across Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado. 

In September 2025, Presmyk was selected as the 14th State Mine Inspector for Arizona — a position established in 1912 and the only one like it in the U.S. Within his office are deputy inspectors, trainers and abandoned mine specialists, all of whom bring years of field experience in keeping Arizona mine workers safe. “Safety is a nonpartisan issue. More than anything, we see ourselves as educators,” Presmyk says, “an extra set of eyes to catch those unsafe conditions that can be overlooked on a daily basis.”  

With over 600 working mines and an estimated 100,000 abandoned mines in Arizona, the demand for these people isn’t going anywhere. To the U of A students of today, Presmyk’s message is simple: The mining industry needs them — engineers, environmental scientists, computer technicians, public policy experts. “Mining today is very different than it was even when I graduated in 1975,” he says. “The opportunities have never been greater or more diverse.”