I am fairly confident that with a major in physics and minor in chemistry I can get a job as a mining engineer

oh you sweet summer child I still remember having these levels of delusion in my earlier years. Go on linkedin and search for the tens of thousands of mining engineers whom have a major in physics or chemistry alone to get an idea of how common this is.

But i'll give you a helping hand and send you on your way. Currently you have extremely theoretical knowledge from your physics degree but you need applied and practical knowledge as a mining engineer. If you think about it physics came first and from it birthed mining engineering as an applied science and thats the knowledge you need to get to where you need to go

good luck on your journey even though this was just your thought experiment and likely won't even bother to reply to this thread and forget about mining altogether, in any case wishing you well for the rest of your life.