Each Miner has a different ability that gives him an advantage over other Miners. At the beginning of the game, players decide which ability they want and choose the Miner that corresponds to that ability.

- The Blue Miner can traverse Secret Passages freely without needing to roll the dice. As with the other Miners, he can only traverse a Secret Passage if he is next to one at the beginning of his turn.
- The Red Miner can Gold or Bat Challenge anyone without risking the consequences of losing the challenge (i.e. he does not lose gold or get moved away if the Challenge is lost). He also wins ties during any challenge. If he loses a challenge that was initiated by another player, he still suffers the consequences.
- The Green Miner can roll both dice for movement instead of just one.
- The Yellow Miner can pick up more than one Gold Nugget in a single turn. When rolling for movement, any Gold Nuggets that he passes along the way may be collected.
- The White Miner can draw and place two tiles per turn instead of just one. Placement of both tiles must occur prior to movement.
- The Black Miner can roll a die and move after placing a tile (instead of moving just one space).

Before choosing a Miner, players must roll to determine the order in which they will choose. To do this, all players roll both dice and memorize the number that was rolled. If a player rolls the same number as a previous player, he must roll again until he rolls a unique number. Players then choose a Miner in order from the highest to the lowest score.

After all twenty Development Mining tiles are played, the player who was the last to choose a Miner may place his Miner on the Mine Entrance tile and take the first turn.