Enchanting vs. Mining

I am at a crossroads with my shaman in World of Warcraft. I have been an enchanter since I created the character. My enchanting skill currently sits at 300. It was a great money maker at one time, but without having The Burning Crusade, I am unsure if it still is. Not having TBC also limits my available clients. There is little to no work available for an out of date enchanter stuck at 300 skill.

I recently dropped my engineering skill that was going unused, to pursue blacksmithing. However, I find that without the ability to mine my own ore, smithing is damn expensive. I have an alt that can mine basic copper, tin, and silver, but I don't plan to level him.

This leaves me stuck at a crossroads. Should I drop my 300 enchanting for mining, or should I just suck it up and pay my way through the grind for blacksmithing? I want to lean towards mining, because it can be a great source of revenue. At the same time, I know how to work the auction house with dis-enchanting to make gold. Also, it sucks not being able to disenchant soul bound items that you finish using.

Eventually, it all really boils down to whether or not I am going to get The Burning Crusade. There are great level 70 axes available for master axesmiths that fit perfectly into my melee shaman's build. If I start leveling, there will always be ore to mine, smelt, and sell. However, if I am leveling, there will be tons of gear I will want to disenchant. Having to make decisions sucks!

Update: 12 July, 2007 - Mining won out, and I am slogging through the grind as I type this.