Principal Mine Planning Engineer (Underground)

Palaris Australia Pty; Newcastle City Council; On-site; AUD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

9-day fortnight

Bonus structure

Office locations Wollongong/Newcastle/

Job summary

Palaris Australia Pty is seeking an underground coal mining engineer to move into advisory work, applying judgement to investment decisions and mine optimisation across multiple operations. You will engage with operators, investors, and lenders, shaping development strategies rather than routine production planning.

Ideal candidates have 5+ years in underground coal, strong planning/scheduling capability, and exposure to studies or project development.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of significant experience in underground coal operations.
• Strong capability in mine planning, design, and scheduling.
• Exposure to operational improvement, studies, or project development.

Responsibilities

• Lead and contribute to concept studies, red flag reviews, and technical due diligence.
• Deliver mine optimisation studies identifying practical improvements to performance, cost, and value.
• Undertake options analysis and trade-off assessments to determine the best development pathway.
• Support project development strategies not just evaluate existing plans.
• Assess mine plans, schedules, and assumptions identifying what drives value vs noise.
• Work directly with clients including operators, investors, and lenders.
• Apply your underground coal experience across multiple assets and contexts.

Skills

Underground coal experience

Mine planning

Scheduling

Financial evaluation

Stakeholder engagement

Tools

Deswik

XPAC

Minex

Job description

Newcastle, Australia | Posted on 13/07/2026

Ready to review the pulse of real mining decisions?

• Reassessing your next move in mining?
• Want to move beyond optimising a single operation?
• Looking for exposure to different mines, strategies, and development pathways?

About the role

Whether you’ve recently been made redundant, or you’re starting to question the path of site-based roles, this is an opportunity to apply your experience differently.

At Palaris, you move beyond production planning into advisory work where your judgement informs investment decisions, mine optimisation, options analysis, and project development strategy across multiple operations.

What this role actually involves

If you are looking for structured production planning or process-driven feasibility work, this is not that role.

This is advisory work where judgement and insight matter. Your role is not to produce more detail. It is to frame the decision and improve the outcome. You will:

• Lead and contribute to concept studies, red flag reviews, and technical due diligence
• Deliver mine optimisation studies identifying practical improvements to performance, cost, and value
• Undertake options analysis and trade-off assessments to determine the best development pathway
• Support project development strategies not just evaluate existing plans
• Assess mine plans, schedules, and assumptions identifying what drives value vs noise
• Work directly with clients including operators, investors, and lenders
• Apply your underground coal experience across multiple assets and contexts

Most of our team come from major mining houses. They move because:

• They want to move beyond optimising a single operation
• They are frustrated by limited influence over key decisions
• They want exposure to different mines, strategies, and development pathways
• They prefer applying judgement over process
• They want to be challenged and stretched

Palaris is an independent advisory firm to the mining sector. We work where decisions carry consequence, supporting:

• Resource companies (site and corporate)
• Financial institutions and lenders
• Equity investors

Our work sits at the intersection of technical insight and capital decisions, with a focus on clear, defensible judgement and practical optimisation.

About you

You are an underground coal mining engineer who understands both planning and reality. You likely have:

• 5+ years of significant experience in underground coal operations
• Strong capability in mine planning, design, and scheduling
• Exposure to operational improvement, studies, or project development

More importantly, you:

• Understand what drives value, risk, and performance in a mine
• Can step back from the model and challenge direction
• Review a mine plan and quickly assess what does not make sense and why
• Are comfortable contributing to client-facing discussions and decisions

You will stand out if you bring:

• Experience in mine optimisation, due diligence, or mine reviews
• Exposure to financial evaluation, options analysis, or trade-off studies
• A network where you are comfortable reaching out to keep your finger on the pulse

Technical Requirements

• Proficiency in Deswik, XPAC, Minex or similar
• Full Australian working rights (no visa sponsorship available)

What we offer

• A 9-day fortnight and flexibility
• Bonus structure aligned to individual performance
• Lifestyle location for you and your family – Wollongong, Newcastle or Brisbane office.