Metallurgist – SANDFIRE RESOURCES

This position is responsible for providing independent metallurgical direction and technical leadership to Processing Plant Operations across crushing, comminution, flotation, dewatering, and concentrate circuits. The role converts ore variability and process data into operating decisions that optimise throughput, recovery, concentrate grade and quality, and overall asset safety, health, environment, production and cost performance.

The role carries direct responsibility for the development and provision of technical guidance to Metallurgical Technicians, Metallurgical laboratory operators, on shift Operations Supervisors and Plant Operators.

Key Performance Areas:

• Responsible for own Health & Safety as well as that of all other workers, identifying, reporting, correcting unsafe conditions and maintaining safe work practices in the plant.
• Complete all required safety, health, and environmental training, competency verification, and permit-to-work / isolation (LOTO) certification applicable to the role in accordance with the Company HSES Management Policy.
• Provide input into risk assessments (JHA, Take 5), Management of Change (MOC) submissions, and critical control verification (CCVs) for process-related hazards.
• Champion visible leadership and safe production behaviours across the section, reinforcing site safety observation programmes and a positive safety culture.
• Own the definition, monitoring, and continuous improvement of metallurgical KPIs that align to optimal copper recovery, silver recovery/deportment, concentrate grade, plant throughput, and energy consumption against budget and design targets.
• Analyse production and process trends (shift, daily, weekly, monthly) to identify performance deviations, diagnose root causes, and direct corrective operating actions.
• Set, defend, and adjust operating targets and constraints (grind P80, mass pull, froth depth, reagent dosage, pH, cyclone operating parameters) in response to ore variability and circuit performance data.
• Develop and maintain shift-level and management-level performance reporting systems and dashboards that enable the operations team to self-monitor against target.
• Provide daily, weekly & monthly technical direction to Shift Supervisors and Operators on the process adjustments required to recover performance to target.
• Monitor, troubleshoot, and optimise crushing, comminution, flotation, and downstream operations, taking corrective action where constraints arise.
• Interpret mineralogy and liberation data to diagnose losses and recommend circuit or reagent changes.
• Support commissioning and ramp-up of processing plant related circuit upgrades or new installations.
• Prepare, review, and certify metallurgical accounts covering mass balance, metal reconciliation, moisture correction, and metal-unit accountability.
• Maintain and improve metallurgical accounting tools, templates, sampling systems, assay QA/QC protocols for feed, concentrate, and tailings streams.
• Assess ore-domain impacts on plant performance, including grade, hardness, mineralogy, and liberation, with Geology and Mine Planning.
• Design, oversee, and interpret bench- and pilot-scale metallurgical test work (flotation kinetics, grind studies, reagent trials) to support process optimisation and project decisions.
• Provide technical mentorship, coaching, and structured development to Graduate Metallurgists and Metallurgical Technicians, acting as a primary knowledge conduit between the metallurgical discipline and the operating floor.
• Represent the Metallurgy section in cross-functional forums with Operations, Mechanical, Electrical &Instrumentation, Control Systems, Dewatering, Projects, and Planning to align on plant priorities.
• Provide metallurgical and process water-quality input at the plant/tailings interface in support of the site’s tailings and water management requirements, working within the governance framework owned by the Responsible Tailings Facility Engineer (RTFE) and/or Engineer of Record (EOR).

Technical Competencies

• Familiarity with the latest mineral processing technologies and robust problem-solving capability
• Metallurgical mass balancing, reconciliation, and metal accounting; AMIRA P754-aligned principles.
• Process simulation and modelling (e.g., JKSimMet, METSIM, HSC, MATLAB, Python or equivalent).
• Experience with online stream analyser (e.g. OSA, MSA or equivalent).
• Statistical and data-analysis proficiency (e.g., JMP, Excel/VBA, Python) for KPI trending, control charting, and design of experiments.
• Working familiarity with plant historian and process control systems (e.g., OSIsoft/AVEVA PI, DCS/SCADA) for real-time performance monitoring.

Behavioural Competencies

• Values driven.
• Positive People Management.
• Ability to perform in a production environment and work as part of a team.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Sound decision-making ability.
• Excellent planning and organisational skills.
• Effective communication skills.
• High commitment to safety, health and environmental stewardship.
• Ability to work independently.
• Willingness to participate in shift coverage, standby, and emergency/incident response duties as required by operational demand.

Qualification & Experience

• Degree in Mineral Processing, Extractive Metallurgy, Process Engineering, Chemical Engineering, or related engineering discipline.
• Registered with the Engineers Registration Board.
• Valid Botswana Class B Drivers Licence.
• 5+ years’ related experience, specifically with base metal (Cu, Ag, Pb, Zn) flotation production plant, including crushing, milling, flotation, thickening, filtration, and tailing management.
• At least 2 – 3 years’ operating with demonstrated independent technical decision-making authority (e.g., reagent programme ownership, grind target-setting, metallurgical accounting sign-off), rather than under close technical supervision.
• Demonstrated experience authoring technical documentation (SOPs, Operating Philosophies, TARPs) and contributing to process-related incident investigations.