Perhaps Skippy had a solid GA background before onto the jets and possibly the turbine rating(s) are decent ones such as Caravan or King Air ? Being in the right place at the right time is the key and he could walk in to an operator who needs a decent level of experience to meet the insurance requirement for a mine contract.
I wouldn't hold out much hope for those who haven't touched anything smaller than a B737 for the last 20 years, but GA pilots had a falling experience level prior to COVID as people were moving through to the airlines relatively quickly and operators might want a few old hands as replacements.