Lead Process Engineer

Title:Lead Process Engineer
Location:To be determined
Compensation:Competitive – Market Priced – DOE
Relocation:Company Paid – FIFO or Residency


Our Client holds the mineral concession of a large open-pit copper development project in Panamá. The concession is outside of Panamá City.

The Project

The project involves multiple open pits with ore mined processed by crushing, grinding, flotation recovery and concentrate dewatering.  This is a green-field project designed for an initial Mill feed rate of 150,000 tonnes per day. Process tailings will be stored at an adjacent tailings storage facility. Copper concentrates will be delivered by slurry pipeline from the concentrator the filter plant at a new Port Facility in the Caribbean coast.  The Port Facility and Process Plant will be linked by a road, buried pipelines for concentrate slurry, return filtrate, diesel fuel, and an overland power transmission line.  The project also includes the construction of a 300 MW Power Generation Plant at the port site.

The main technical challenges of the project are:

  • Logistical:
No access from land to parts of the project (port site)
  • Environmental:
Pristine rain forest with rich biodiversity
  • Social:
Isolated rural communities in the vicinity of the project
  • Geotechnical:
Large volumes of Saprolite materials difficult to handle in a extremely wet environment (5,000 mm annual precipitation)

 

Total capital cost is in the US$ 4.3 billion range with start of construction in 2012 and completion in 2016.

General Accountability

The Lead Process Engineer will sit within the Owner’s engineering team, supporting the Engineering Manager.  He will be responsible and accountable for overseeing the optimum design of the process facility.

The Lead Process Engineer will report to the Engineering Manager who is the main executive within the Owner’s team accountable for the engineering of the Project.

The incumbent will lead and coordinate the Process engineering team during the development of basic and detailed design. The Lead Process Engineer will provide leadership and a high level of coordination among other member of the Owner’s engineering team to ensure that the project is completed in compliance with established quality, constructability and operating principles and philosophies.

As a member of the Owner’s engineering team, the Lead Process Engineer will have continuous interface with the EPC Contractor responsible for the Basic and Detail Engineering of the Project.

It is anticipated that the initial assignment will be for three to four years. Primary location of the assignment will be at the engineering offices of the EPC Contractor (to be determined) with relocation to site (Panamá) once construction starts.

The general purpose of this role is to oversee and monitor the EPC Contractor’s process design development.

Responsibilities

Working within a multidisciplinary engineering team, the Lead Process Engineer will have the following responsibilities:

  • Review and assess the FEED study relevant process design criteria including grinding test work data and flotation test work data.
  • Review the EPC Contractor’s process design, mechanical, materials handling and other related assumptions and parameters used as the basis of design.
  • Oversee and monitor the EPC Contractor’s process design and plant layouts to achieve satisfactory constructability, maintainability and operability of the proposed plant layout.
  • Oversee and monitor the interpretation and application of the project process design data including the FEED study metallurgical data by the EPC contractor during basic design.
  • Review all aspects of the EPC Contractor’s process design to ensure alignment with data and interpretations.
  • Review all equipment sourced by the EPC contractor for the process plant meets the owners’ criteria.
  • On commencement of construction ensure that all process plant, mechanical, materials handling and related works untaken by the EPC contractor is in accordance with the reviewed design criteria and technical parameters.
  • Provide support to the owners civil / structural, mechanical, and electrical engineers on all process engineering activities associates with the implementation of the project.

Qualifications and Competencies

  • University degree in process engineering.
  • Minimum 15 years experience in process design of large grinding/flotation mineral ore process facilities.
  • Direct hands-on experience on the process engineering development of large mineral ore grinding/flotation process plant facilities including crushing/grinding, flotation, dewatering/filtration of concentrate, storage and treatment of tailings, large scale process and waste water management and concentrate pipeline operation.
  • Demonstrable experience in an operating role of a large concentrator would be a plus to the candidate’s credentials.
  • Adherence to the highest ethical standards, demonstrating accountability, integrity and transparency in actions at all times.
  • English language proficiency both written and oral; ability to speak and write Spanish would be a plus.
  • Strong communication and presentation skills in a multicultural environment.
  • Experience in working both independently and team oriented, collaborative environment is essential.

 

CONTACT:
Lindsey Schultz, Corporate VP, MRC Corp.
480-659-5847
Lschultz@MRC-BusinessGroup.com

MRC – Executive Search for Mining Professionals