depends on the project, generally it wont take 2000 to build a mine, and your limited by the accomodation at the camps generally. pluto, or gorgan yeah there large scale projects, 2000 workers+. workers come in, in stages civils build the camps, you have non process infrastructure like offices sheds,workshops, (sometimes contractors do this) then you have the process plant construction, conveyers crushers mills etc, and sometimes rail needs to be built. a lot of the smaller to mid size projects will have around 250-800 workers at there peak. but over the entire project its likely double that, i dont know so much about the operations side of it, but an entire new crew comes in for that, all the construction workers get made redundant and go onto other companys projects or if the company has another job they can transfer over. once up and running there is always going to be work operating the mines and doing maintenance and periodic shutdowns. although the highest paid work is always the construction.
