Ah yes the mining myth, friend of mine did 2 on 1 off, got paid 100k as a poo kicker, sounds pretty good eh ? Arrive at work Mon morn after 90 min flight and start 7 x 12 hr day shifts, then straight into 7 x 12 hr night shifts at the end of the 7th night shift he caught a 90 min flight home which was the start of his 7 days off. He worked out that the hourly rate was marginally more than his 65k a year job and in any case was not worth leaving his kids fatherless for 2/3 of the year.
If I worked those sort of hours and got paid accordingly I'd be on 500k + a year, apples and oranges .