As a key member of the Process Plant team and reporting into the Superintendent Technical, the Senior Metallurgist Project is accountable for the effective and efficient operation of the Metallurgy function (medium & long-term strategy) to deliver to maximised production and minimised costs while ensuring operational sustainability. The Senior Metallurgist Project will safely lead the development and execution of a variety of different operational based and capital based projects ranging in complexity and duration. The majority of the projects are involved in increasing production, optimizing recovery and concentrate grade (Cu). This role is dynamic and includes leading R&D projects, working with external Laboratory or Consultancy, plant trials and pilot plant management, process troubleshooting, systematic de-bottlenecking and exploiting of opportunities. The scope of work and tasks vary based upon the opportunities that the circuit presents. Robust and pragmatic solutions are required to ensure they are “fit for purpose” and align with varying material characteristics and operational parameters. Other duties include but are not limited to: Material balancing, equipment sizing, scheduling, industrial testing and sampling, laboratory analysis, and producing detailed technical reports on opportunities improve process efficiency. The candidate will also collaborate with multi-disciplinary teams and vendors to ensure safe project execution & excellence.  The candidate will also support the process department on a variety of other metallurgical related duties as required and specified by the Chief Metallurgist or Process Plant Manager. The role has a focus on Short-medium optimisation to long-term focus.

Specific Job Responsibility

• Understand and execute accountabilities of legal appointment under Zambian Mining Regulations;
• Maintain HSE standards and ensure strict compliance within section;
• The role spans leading short-medium term project for the process plant, plant debottlenecking in Crushing & Grinding and Flotation and Service
• Define, implement and continuously improve the Process Plant metallurgical strategy with clear visibility and simplicity. Reflect these in business Capital Expenditure outlook together with respective sections and department leads;
• Routinely monitor, analyse and report production losses, productivity metrics for identifying key areas for plant improvement. Supply essential information accepted in industry (Pareto charts, SWOT analysis, Overall Equipment Effectiveness, etc.). Constantly seek out innovative solutions for plant problems;
• Ensure the diagnosis of process performance is conducted, focusing on identifying root cause, and implementation of both corrective and preventative measures;
• Review plant design, scope and develop justification for capital upgrades;
• Maintain an updated and simple plan for any metallurgical production equipment design changes
• Implement the metallurgical process strategies to optimize processing circuits in a cost effective and safe manner
• Consistently deliver and exceed the KPI’s as directed by the Metallurgical leadership group.
• Participate in the daily work activities of processing circuits
• Serve as technical support to operations personnel as required
• Monitor, analyse, control and report on process performance with recommendations to improve practices to maximize safe copper
•  Develop effective Design of Experiments, Coordinate surveys, industrial trials and metallurgical test-work as required to optimize performance
• Conduct troubleshooting and analysis to identify root causes and corrective actions
• Follow up on operational strategies and determine if automation or more efficient methods are available
• Investigate and research new technology and equipment which may improve plant performance
• Constantly seek and implement innovative solutions to reduce operational costs safely and effectively
• Develop process-engineering deliverables on mineral processing projects, i.e. Process Design Criteria, Mass and Water Balance, Process Flow Diagrams, Equipment Sizing, Piping and Instrumentation Diagrams, Equipment Sizing, Design Calculations, Process Description and Process Control Philosophy.
• Prepare process equipment functional specification and process datasheets.
• Actively engage with Plant Mets and Operations to understand plant change proposals.
• Perform trade-off studies to select preferred process options and assess process plant change proposals

Job Specific Competencies

• Identify potential improvement through the personal inspection of plant condition and performance;
• Plan and execute projects according to Processing requirements, providing quality technical insights on the results, which can include but are not limited to;
  • Operational commissioning of new equipment;
  • Prospective solution to outstanding long-term issues, including all areas of the plant
  • Development of data warehousing and analytics platforms
  • Control and automation opportunities
• Maintain a user-friendly, exhaustive and up-to-date database of all projects;
• Work with limited supervision to seek continuous improvement;
• Manage the interaction with the Processing Operations teams to ensure efficient delivery to customer requirements, with a particular focus of the role on facilitating technical interactions between sections;
• Interact with Perth Projects office on a regular basis
• Drive skills transfer and training, with the aim of increasing competencies and skillsets in junior staff where possible, especially through interaction on projects;
• Facilitate data acquisition, warehousing, accessibility, distribution and analytics.
• Control and reduce operational costs;
• Implement FQM Way culture – “Smarter, Bolder, Driven;”
• Perform any other duties as assigned by the Superintendent Technical or Process Management.

Key Job Attributes

• Commitment to SHEC performance;
• Good leadership and motivational skills;
• Strong drive and personal sense of ownership and accountability;
• Strong ability to task assign and build working relations, including a balance of assertiveness and cooperation;
• Excellent cognitive and analytical skills;
• Affinity to perform technical research and development;
• Accustomed to carrying out advanced calculations and possess ability to analyse and understand highly complex and statistical metallurgical data;
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, and able to assemble data and provide clear and accurate operational performance reports in both an upward and downward direction;
• Ability to work autonomously and maintain self-discipline under pressure;
• Be diligent and thorough in approach;
• Be enthusiastic and pro-active in manner;
• Computer fluency is a must;
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment;
• English language fluency.

Experience required

• Minimum 8 years working as an Project Metallurgist or Process Engineer in high pace mining
• Experience in technical role as plant metallurgist with base metal processing skills
• Computer fluency is essential especially with Microsoft Office based programs and data analysis software (MS Excel, Power BI, Minitab, etc.
• Understanding and application of simulation and mass balancing programs (MatBal, Bilmat, JKSimMET)
• Experience in process control systems, information databases (i.e. SQL, Centric, PI Process Book) and metallurgical optimization highly regarded.
• A strong commitment to safety leadership and ability to follow relevant policies and procedures
• Strong English verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent analytical skills for identifying process shortfalls, bottlenecks and implementing systematic solutions.
• Understanding of complex metallurgical information, process improvement and control strategies for large-scale mineral processing plants.
• Ability to provide clear and accurate operational performance reports in both an upward and downward direction.
• Strong time-management, organizational, reporting and presentation skills with the ability to multi-task and prioritize tasks effectively.  Set schedules, milestones, and achieve them
• Ability to work in a multi-cultural environment including the collaboration with other technical departments.

Qualifications

• Degree in Extractive Metallurgy, Mineral Processing, Chemical Engineering or related field.
• Eligibility for membership of the Engineering Institute of Zambia (EIZ), and to hold relevant legal appointment as defined by the Mining Regulations of Zambia