After a couple weeks it seems we have a few different sorts of miners.
1) Those that mine a particular type of coin, believe in it's worth, and that it will eventually increase in value substantially. These are the "holders".
2) Those that mine whatever is of the most profit at any given moment/day/week then frequently sell/convert it to something else. The coin they mine may be a trashcoin - it doesn't matter to them one way or the other.
3) Those that intentionally target trashcoins to mine/buy and attempt to pump/dump.
Have I got this figured out now or am I missing something? Not trying to be judgmental btw.
Regarding those who fit into category 1. It seems like one of the challenges here is to try and figure out, as a long term miner or investor, which currencies are going to be the good ones to hold onto. For instance with privacy currencies there are several options out there that all have some merit one way or the other. Will one eventually triumph out over the others? Will there be room for more than one, two, etc. to flourish? Who can say.
Currently I would place myself as a #1 however that may change as I read/learn more. Would sure suck to mine a bunch of monero, zcash, etc. and hold it for a few years then have it do absolutely nothing in the long term. I guess that is the risk those who are in it long term take.